Greek Pasta Salad

Dressing:

1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup olive oil (green is best; yellow is also fine)
3/4 cup Balsamic vinegar (any other variety pales in comparison)
1/4 cup water
2 whole cloves garlic, peeled
Oregano, rosemary, and thyme to taste (fresh is best, but you may use dried)
1/2 lb. Feta cheese

Place all ingredients but Feta into blender container and process until everything is well-chopped. Now add Feta and blend until fairly smoooth. (A few small lumps are inevitable, but not a problem.)

IMPORTANT!

If you are using dried herbs, be sure to make the dressing first, and allow to sit at room temperature for a couple of hours, so flavors will have time to gain strength.

Salad:

1 cucumber, peeled, quartered, and thinly sliced
2 or 3 carrots, peeled and coarsely grated
1 red onion, peeled and chopped
2 or 3 large tomatoes, peeled and chopped, OR 1 pt. cherry tomatoes, quartered
2 large, sweet bell peppers, diced, any color you like (I like one red and one yellow best)
1/2 - 3/4 lb. Calamata olives, OR a combination of Calamata and Sicilian green
1/2 lb. Feta cheese, crumbled
1 lb. pasta, rotini or radiatore, preferably tri-color,
cooked according to package directions, well-rinsed in cold
water, and thoroughly drained

Mix all ingredients in a very large bowl with dressing. Chill for an hour or two and serve, garnished with a handful of walnut pieces.

ABOUT OLIVES:

If you decide to use only Calamata, you will probably only need 1/2 lb. Green olives are larger, and you will need more total weight if you choose to combine the two varieties. Sicilian green olives have pits and are not stuffed with pimientos. I have found no effective way to pit them. Calamatas are easily pitted by rolling them between thumb and forefinger and squeezing gently. This mangles them badly. Rather than allow this to spoil the appearance of the salad, I urge you to serve them whole and issue warnings regarding the presence of pits.