Summer Orzo Salad with Grilled Shrimp

Cook's notes: This versatile salad uses a variety of summer vegetables paired with orzo, a small Italian rice shaped pasta.  The shrimp and vegetables are grilled, added to the orzo and tossed with a light lemon-dill vinaigrette.
The inspiration for this recipe came from Country Living July/August 2014. I added my own spin to the recipe with some adaptations.
Ingredients:

• 4 cups fresh corn kernels (about 6 ears) or frozen whole kernel corn
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 12 oz. package of orzo
• 1 pint cherry tomatoes,halved
• 1/4 cup chopped basil
• 2 large shallots minced
•  1 TB. chopped fresh parsley or 1 TB. dried parsley
• 2 cups grilled shrimp or substitute 2 grilled salmon fillets 
• 1 medium zucchini cut in thick slices or bunch of asparagus spears
• 1 cup each red and yellow sweet peppers

Directions:

• In a large skillet over high heat add 2 TB. olive oil, corn and saute 3 minutes. Add minced garlic and shallots, saute 2 minutes more. 
• Cook orzo according to package directions, drain and cool.
• In a large bowl, add orzo, corn, tomatoes, basil, garlic onion mixture. 
• Toss with vinaigrette dressing, add grilled shrimp and grilled vegetables.   

Lemon-Dill Vinaigrette
Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup (1.3 ounces) crumbled feta cheese
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil 
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

• Combine all ingredients in a small bowl, stirring well and whisk in olive oil. 

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On this day in 1947, Anne Frank's diary was published. She began keeping the diary in 1942, when she was 13, and she wrote it during the two years that her family was in hiding from the Nazis in Amsterdam. They were discovered in 1944 and taken to concentration camps, where Anne died of typhus in 1945. 

Inspiring words by Anne Frank.

As long as this exists...
by Anne Frank
"As long as this exists," I thought, "and I may live to see it, this sunshine, the cloudless skies, while this lasts, I cannot be unhappy." The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quite alone with the heavens, nature, and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature. As long as this exists, and it certainly always will, I know that then there will always be comfort for every sorrow, whatever the circumstances may be. And I firmly believe that nature brings solace in all troubles.

"As long as this exists..." by Anne Frank, excerpt from The Diary of a Young Girl. © Bantam Books, 1986. Reprinted with permission.