Greek Pasta Salad

I made this the other night, and I thought I would share because it was delicious!! I made it Sunday evening so it would be ready to go for dinner on Monday, and it kept perfectly (I just added in a little extra olive oil when we were ready to eat it)!

And for those of you who think it's acceptable to use bottled Italian dressing as a sauce (yuck!), this is much better and almost as easy. :)

Greek Pasta Salad

Ingredients:
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup red wine vinegar (don't settle for another kind of vinegar - the red wine has the perfect taste)
1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
3/4 teaspoon white sugar
1 package dry Italian dressing mix (I added this in because I like a little more kick than the recipe calls for)
2 1/2 cups cooked {spiral pasta} (the original recipe called for elbow macaroni)
3 cups fresh sliced mushrooms (I left these out because Micah hates them)
15 {grape} tomatoes, halved (the original recipe called for cherry tomatoes)
1 cup sliced red bell peppers (I left these out)
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1 (4 ounce) can {sliced} black olives (the original recipe called for whole olives)
3/4 cup {sliced pepperoni}, cut into strips (the original recipe called for pepperoni sausage)
3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese

Directions:
In a large bowl, whisk together olive oil, vinegar, garlic powder, basil, oregano, black pepper, and sugar. Add cooked pasta, mushrooms, tomatoes, red peppers, green onions, olives, pepperoni, and feta. Toss until evenly coated. Cover, and chill 2 hours or overnight.

Make sure and add the feta last or it'll break down and get chalky. I also added lots and lots of salt - it really brings out the flavors! And the recipe could probably use another can of olives - I ADORE olives! :)