Greek Inspired Pasta Salad

Pasta salads are a wonderful option for a summer meal. They are especially convenient for picnics or summer barbecues. For best results, a pasta salad should be prepared the night before. This gives it time to sit and chill, and more importantly, gives the flavors, herbs and spices time to soak in.

My family enjoys Greek dishes. We are especially fond of the Greek salad. The traditional Greek salad was my inspiration for this dish. Serve as the main course over dark greens with warm pita bread, or along side a Greek style burger (topped with cucumbers, green peppers, sliced olives and feta cheese).

4-6 servings.

Ingredients:

1 box of whole wheat pasta
1/2 cup of Greek salad dressing (Kraft has a tasty one)
1/4 cup of red wine vinaigrette dressing
1 cup of black or kalamata olives (sliced or whole)
1 cup of crumbled goat or feta cheese
1 thinly sliced red pepper
1 thinly sliced green pepper
1 tablespoon of lime juice
1 thinly sliced red onion
1 cup of sliced smoked turkey sausage
Sea salt and ground pepper to taste (if needed)

Optional:
1 sliced cucumber
12 grape tomatoes (halved)

Preparation:

1. Cook pasta according to package instructions, rinse in cool water and let drain.
2. Combine dressings, lime juice and seasonings in bowl.
3. Fold in pasta, meat, peppers, onions and olives.
4. Chill/refrigerate overnight.
5. Remove from refrigerator and salt/pepper to taste.
6. Serve topped with goat or feta cheese.