Marie Wallace's Pasta Salad

from the Dark Shadows Celebrity Cookbook

Summers in Maine are getting warmer every year it seems, not that anyone's complaining after a long dreary winter, and Collinsport is no exception, although the sea breezes here make a hot sultry day much more bearable.  But when the mercury in our kitchen window thermometers is rising above 80 before noon, cooking seems out of the question.  In the Dark Shadows Celebrity Cookbook, the lovely and always refreshing marie Wallace provided me with the perfect solution.  Her recipe for pasta salad could not be more perfect for lunch on a summer day or dinner on a warm evening, perhaps a picnic supper on Widow's Hill.  The ingredients are fresh, healthy, and delicious and it goes together so easily that it practically makes itself.  I used the rotelle called for in the recipe but your favorite pasta shape would be fine in this great salad.  The taste of fresh basil and garden tomatoes can't be topped and especially when combined with Greek olives, feta cheese, and oregano.  Like Marie, this is a dish that has elegance, color, personality, freshness, and is very accessible.  Her note at the end is as charming as she is and made me wish that I could join her for an open air concert and picnic in Central Park, but Widow's Hill will have to do.  I enjoyed every minute of preparing this fine salad and ate it with pleasure.