greek pasta salad, opa!!

Today is marathon Monday and my girls at University Road (on the race route) are having a cook-out :) And for my contribution to the party, I decided to make pasta salad. The possibilities with pasta salad are endless--and you can load it up with all your favorite veggies! I was inspired by the feta cheese in my fridge to go with a Greek style salad. Its a really simple recipe, just a handful of simple ingredients.

Greek Pasta Salad (makes ~16 heaping 1/2 cups)
Ingredients:
1 box Barilla Plus bow-tie pasta
1/2 cup fat free feta cheese
1 medium cucumber, chopped
1 cup grape tomatoes, quartered
1/3 medium red onion, finely chopped
2/3 cup Kraft Greek Vinaigrette Dressing (the one made with olive oil, 60 calories per 2 tbsp)
2 tbsp parmesan cheese
a generous shake dried oregano
coarse sea salt, fresh ground pepper to taste

Boil a large pot of water on the stove top. As the water boils, chop your veggies. Add the veggies to a large bowl. When the water gets to a rapid boil, add in the pasta, stirring so it doesn't stick. Cook the pasta to al dente (on the firm side). Strain the pasta and run it under cool water to stop the pasta from cooking. Add the pasta to the bowl of veggies. Pour in the dressing and mix well. Add the feta cheese, dried oregano, and salt and pepper. Lastly, sprinkle on the parmesan cheese.

I would've added sliced black olives to this, but I went to two different grocery stores with no success so I did without. And if you wanted to make a meal out of this, you could add a little grilled chicken, shrimp, or chick peas for protein. Pasta salad is best to cook the night before so the flavors really come together.