Chopping Vegetables: It's All Greek to Me

Spring is here! I've always preferred colder weather, but the warm seasons are really starting to grow on me. One of the reasons is that I feel like we eat "lighter" meals in spring and summer, like this Greek pasta salad I threw together last week!

I had an almost-full box of whole-wheat rotini and an almost-empty box of whole-wheat penne, so I just combined them, but any short pasta will do. Tri-color pasta would be fun!

While the pasta was cooling, I made the dressing: olive oil, red wine vinegar, basil, garlic powder, salt and pepper. (Don't you love my cute little whisk? It's perfect for things like this. Thanks, Mom!)

Speaking of my mom, chopping the veggies for this reminded me of a conversation she and I had a few weeks ago. I was talking about how much I hate chopping vegetables, and she said that was her favorite part of cooking! Well, the solution seems obvious: she and I should just always cook together; I'll do everything else if she'll do all the chopping. :)

I don't know if I've ever mentioned it here, but I absolutely dread chopping pretty much anything, and vegetables are the worst. I'm terrible at it, and I tend to avoid things I'm not good at. (This is why I buy frozen chopped onions, because if vegetables are the worst, then onions are the worst of the worst.) And this salad involves a lot of chopping of vegetables, so let's just get it over with.

I'm adding a new peeler to my kitchen wish list. My current peeler doubles as a corer, but it's a little banged-up after an incident with a particularly stubborn apple, and now it won't peel anything. Since I almost never use it, I never think to buy a new one. Anyway...ideally, the cucumber would be peeled because the skin can be somewhat bitter. We'll just pretend they're peeled this time, OK?

I used the ingenious method of halving tiny tomatoes by putting several of them between two plastic lids; it's a huge time-saver. I originally saw it on an episode of 30-Minute Meals, but if you want to do it just like me, scrape off a little bit of one of your good Pyrex lids in the process because you can't hold a knife straight...

If you want to use a red onion instead of green onions (a.k.a. scallions) for a little more color variation, feel free. I like green onions because they have a milder flavor, and I 'm not a big fan of raw onion anyway. They're also easier to chop, which of course is always a plus for me.

I had about half a jar of roasted red peppers in the fridge, so I diced 'em up and tossed 'em in there too. And since I had already used some, most of what was left were small bits that I didn't need to chop. I love when laziness works to my advantage...

The final two ingredients are probably my favorite: black olives and feta. YUM. Coincidentally, they are also the easiest ingredients to add. Purely coincidental. Heh.

And here's what I ended up with. I love how colorful it is. I must confess: all that chopping-related grief is worth it, because this is some delicious stuff.

Greek Pasta Salad

1 (13.25 oz.) box short pasta, like rotini or elbow macaroni
1 (2.25 oz.) can sliced black olives - drained
1 pint grape or cherry tomatoes - halved
1/4 c. green onions - sliced
1/2 c. roasted red pepper - blotted and diced
1 cucumber - peeled, seeded, and diced
1 (4 oz.) pkg. crumbled feta cheese

Dressing:
1/3 c. olive oil
3 tbsp. red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp. dried basil
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
ground black pepper to taste

Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain, rinse, and place in large bowl to cool completely. Whisk dressing ingredients in small bowl and set aside. Add feta and prepared vegetables to cooled pasta. Stir dressing and pour over salad; stir gently to combine. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours (overnight is preferred). Stir once more just before serving.