We recently had a baby shower for an attorney in my office, and I made "Baby Shrimp Salad" mostly because I thought the name would be cute.

Ingredients:

1 lb. orzo
2 lbs cherry/grape tomatoes, halved
5 cloves garlic, peeled
1 c. fresh basil leaves
1 c. olive oil
2-3 lbs defrosted cooked baby shrimp, or as much as you want (the great part here is that frozen baby shrimp are like half the price of their larger counterparts, so you can get a lot for your money)
1 c. grated pecorino romano cheese

Directions:

Fill a large stock pot with water and set on high heat to boil. When boiling, add plenty of salt and the orzo.

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Put the halved tomatoes on a large, unlined baking sheet with olive oil, salt and pepper to coat. Roast at 450 for about 30 minutes, then broil for a minute or two until slightly charred on the outside. Set aside and let cool.

In the meantime, in a food processor, pulse the peeled garlic cloves until fine, about 5 or 6 pulses. Add the basil and process until it's fine. Using the feed tube, process the garlic and basil while adding the olive oil; start with 1/2 cup oil and keep adding until you reach the consistency of salad dressing - not too thick and not too thin.

Put the baby shrimp in a large glass bowl and cover it with about half the basil oil, or however much it takes to really coat. Allow to sit at room temperature for about 10 minutes, then cover tightly and refrigerate.

The orzo should be finished by now - drain it thoroughly and rinse it with cool water to stop it from cooking. Put it into a large bowl and add about 3 tablespoons of the basil oil, until it's coated lightly or to taste. Add the roasted tomatoes and any juices that may have accumulated on the baking sheet. Toss the orzo and tomatoes to incorporate.

Keep the shrimp and orzo separate until ready to serve, then combine, adding plenty of grated cheese on top.

Making this the day before worked really well. Charring the tomatoes gives much more flavor then just roasting them or leaving them raw, plus the texture in the salad gives you a little burst of flavor when you bite one.

Also, for the benefit of the low carb fan in my office, I put some of the salad over bean sprouts instead of orzo. She said it was a great substitute.

I liked the way this came out so much, I'm omitting the shrimp and making it for lunch for the convention!