Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad

For our upcoming family dinner, my sister in law asked me to bring a pasta salad. Ok, pathetically enough...I've NEVER made a pasta salad. So of course, I jumped on the internet and started searching for recipes. My two criteria were that it had to be a 5 star recipe and I have to currently have all the ingredients in my house. I thought this might be a challenge, but lo and behold, I found a recipe...and since I'm afraid I won't be able to find it again, I thought I'd post it now. It sounds different than your basic pasta salad, but then again, I don't really like your basic pasta salad so I'm excited to try it! I will tell you right now that I will be omitting the olives because I think olives are GROSS and should be withheld from ALL food and I'm going to use medium cheese instead of sharp cuz that's what's in my fridge right now. Hope my family is ok with it, otherwise they'll learn not to assign me pasta salad. hahahaha

Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad

• 1 (12 ounce) package uncooked tri-color rotini pasta
• 10 slices bacon
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 3 tablespoons dry ranch salad dressing mix
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic pepper
• 1/2 cup milk, or as needed
• 1 large tomato, chopped
• 1 (4.25 ounce) can sliced black olives
• 1 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Stir in rotini pasta and cook for 10 to 12 minutes or until al dente; drain.
2. Place bacon in a skillet over medium-high heat and cook until evenly brown. Drain and chop.
3. In a large bowl, mix mayonnaise, ranch dressing mix, garlic powder, and garlic pepper. Stir in milk until smooth. Place bacon, tomato, black olives and cheese in bowl and toss to coat with dressing. Cover and chill at least 1 hour in the refrigerator. Toss with additional milk if the salad seems a little dry.