Whole Wheat Pasta Salad with Homemade Dressing

I am still living in jacket-weather.

And we're nearing the end of June.

Seriously.

So, to combat the grossness outside, I made something yummy:

The perfect summer pasta salad.

(Take that, yucky-cold-rainy-44-degree-weather!)

And this one's good, trust me. It's not covered in a bunch of globby mayo or sugar-infested dressing.

Simply fresh and lovely.

I slightly adapted the dressing recipe from allrecipes.com.

As for the pasta and veggies, I used whole wheat rotini and whatever vegetables I had in the fridge and added some creamy feta. This could easily be your clean-out-the-produce-drawer go-to recipe! :)

(I didn't exactly measure the veggies...just throw in whatever looks good.)

Makes about 8 servings

Dressing:

1/2 cup olive oil

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

3 cloves fresh garlic, minced

1 tsp dried basil

1 tsp dried oregano

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp black pepper

Salad:

8 oz. whole wheat rotini pasta

1 small cucumber, thinly sliced

1 handful cherry tomatoes, quartered

3-4 carrots, sliced

1 small red onion, thinly sliced

1/4 cup fresh parsley, minced

4 oz. feta cheese, crumbled

Place all dressing ingredients into a closed container and shake to combine (this can be made ahead and refrigerated; I think refrigerating also gives it more flavor).

Cook pasta according to directions, let cool, and mix in prepared veggies & cheese. Pour dressing over salad and toss to coat. Refrigerate for a few hours or overnight before serving.

...I think I can smell summer coming...