Garden Pasta Salad with Bacon

Bacon, that is really all that needs to be said, it’s so good they put it on Ice Cream! I keep hearing that it is bad for you, but I’m not falling for it.. nope, not me! Cold pasta salads are a must in summer, they fill you up without heating you up. I’m a huge fan of a bowl of pasta salad in the summer evenings with a glass of sweet tea. It’s utopia! Hope you enjoy this one!

Ingredients:

12-24 ounces of rendered bacon ( amount depends on your love of it)

12 ounces of Tri Colored Pasta ( cooked til just soft then drained in cold water, set aside)

1 cup of your favorite Italian dressing

14.5 ounces of petite diced tomatoes ( drained)

1 English cucumber ( seeded and diced)

1 small purple onion ( diced) ( i refuse to call it red, them lil suckers are purple)

1 cup green olives with pimento ( chopped)

Grated Parm for garnish

 

 

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How can a recipe be bad if it starts out like this? I’m crying uncle!

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Render the bacon and set it aside to drain….

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While the bacon is cooking, cook your pasta, rinse and put aside in a large bowl..

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Diced your cucumber and purple onion…

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Chop and measure out your olives, add them and the drained tomatoes to the veggies.

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Stir it all together well and add to the pasta.

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Fold in One cup of dressing, save a bit extra for serving if you want, it can soak up a it as is chills in the fridge.

Stir well and chill at least an hour…

Don’t fold in your bacon, it will only get soggy again…

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When ready to serve, top each plate with bacon and parm!

Toot Toot!! ( that was my horn)

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NOTE: These are my pasta and dressing of choice today.. but use any you want, really, its okay …giggles

 

 

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