BLT Pasta Salad (Bacon Week Day 1) #baconweek

 Bacon!! This past Saturday (August 31st) was National Bacon Day.  My family loves bacon... on it's own, as an ingredient in a dish or even as a fun garnish.  Some people say, "Everything is better with bacon".   So, I am planning a whole week dedicated to bacon this week.  Today I start off with a fun Pasta Salad based on the famous BLT sandwich.  This pasta salad was gone in minutes after I put it out on the table... lucky for me I always have the ingredients around to make this again and again.

 Ingredients:
1 box of pasta (penne, elbow, rotini etc...)
1 head of lettuce (romaine, iceberg, etc..)
1/2 pint of grape or cherry tomatoes sliced
6-8 slices of bacon cut into a small dice and fried until crispy
1/2 medium red onion diced finely
1/2 green bell pepper finely diced
1- 11/2 cups of Ranch dressing (recipe below)  **Note you an also use a store brand Ranch powder mix and follow directions per package instructions.

Dressing  Ingredients:
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup mayonnaise
Juice 1/2 a lemon
1 Tbs rice wine vinegar
1 tsp salt seasoning
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1 tsp minced fresh dill
black pepper
2 tsp fresh minced parsley
2 tsp fresh minced chives
2 Tbs Parmesan cheese

recipe adapted from: Ranch Dressing Food.com

Directions for dressing:

Blend all the ingredients except the fresh herbs and Parmesan cheese until smooth.  Finally add the fresh herbs and cheese and stir will. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.

 Directions: 
Cook pasta in well salted water until tender.  Drain and allow to cool down.  Prepare Ranch dressing and chill.  Prepare all vegetables.  Mix all ingredients together.  Serve immediately or chill for 30 minutes and serve.  Enjoy.

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