Pasta Salad for Katie

One day a couple of years ago my then 21 year old daughter came home and announced she'd had "the best pasta salad ever." I asked her where she had it and she said "at Liz Bellmer's house." Never actually having made a pasta salad myself, I asked, "What was in it?" Imagine my surprise when I found it was a very simple recipe, basically pasta, tomatoes, black olives, bell peppers and italian dressing. Katie took this recipe with her when she moved to Orlando for a year. She made it for me when I visited and again when she moved home.

Wanting to "tweak" it for myself, I made my own pasta salad last week and I'm sad that I had never made it before! It was delicious and will be a staple for me for quite awhile. Here are the very simple ingredients. You can, of course, use whatever Italian dressing you like, but my very favorite is Good Seasons that I mix up myself right before pouring. (I think I could drink the stuff directly from the bottle I love it so much) I use red wine vinegar and EVOO. Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS

1 box "pretty" pasta (fusilli, ditalini, gemelli, etc.)
1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
1 can small black olives, drained and halved
1/2 to 1 small red onion, chopped, but not minced
1 whole package Good Seasons Italian dressing
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
10 slices Hard Salami or Pepperoni, chopped(optional)

1. Boil Pasta according to package instructions. Use the whole box. Drain it and run cold water over it to cool it off. Put into very large bowl. I use a Tupperware Thatsa Mega bowl with a seal.

2. Prepare the dressing according to the package instructions.

3. Toss everything together. Let it rest in fridge for at least an hour to meld flavors. Enjoy!