Greek Pasta Salad

GREEK PASTA SALAD

My boys used to swim for the Davison Athletic Club (DAC) summer swim team and for the Flint YMCA Falcons swim team. We made many friends and had so much fun hanging out together and watching our kids swim at practice and at swim meets. If you've ever been to a swim meet, you know how L-O-N-N-N-G-G-G...they are, so we spent a lot of time getting to know parents of the other swimmers.

We started having family get-togethers periodically and we'd all bring something to eat and drink to share with the group. At one of these gatherings, my friend made a pasta salad that I absolutely DEVOURED. I couldn't get enough of it. I asked her if she had the recipe and she DIDN'T!! I told her that I wanted to make it at home, so she told what the basic ingredients were - but since my penmanship isn't real legible after a couple of glasses of a good Chardonnay and I knew I left out some details - I began searching the Internet for what I hoped would be a close second. After trial and error and phone calls to my friend, I managed to eek out a great recipe that includes pieces of several different recipes. I love Greek Pasta Salad, so I am providing you with this recipe in hopes that you will like it, too. It's easy and even tastes great the day or two after you make it and wrap it up for the refrigerator.

Greek Pasta Salad

• 1/2 cup Extra Virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
• 1 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 1/2 tsp. dried basil (you can use fresh if you want to - but the dried works very well)
• 1 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
• 3/4 tsp. black pepper
• 3/4 tsp. white sugar
• 1/2 tsp. garlic salt
• 2 1/2 cups rotini pasta - cooked (or any pasta type that you prefer or have on hand)
• 3 cups mushrooms - sliced - fresh or canned - whatever you prefer
• 1 pkg. cherry tomatoes - halved
• 1 cup red bell peppers - sliced
• 1 pkg (4 oz) feta cheese - crumbled
• 1/2 cup green onions - chopped
• 1 can (4 or 6 oz) black olives - halved
• 1/3 cup green olives - halved - if desired

In a large bowl, whisk together olive oil, red wine vinegar, garlic powder, basil, oregano, pepper, and sugar. Add cooked pasta, mushrooms, tomatoes, red peppers, feta cheese, onions, and olives. Toss until evenly coated with the herb mixture. Cover and chill for 2 - 3 hours prior to serving. But honestly, I've eaten it without doing that and it was still delicious.

Try the recipe and let me know what you think. Any suggestions or variations I could try would be fun to get! ENJOY!!