Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad

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Summer is coming!!!  It's time to start thinking cool meals for warm summer days!  Salads are always a hit in our home and my teenage girls especially love pasta salad.  This delicious pasta salad is packed with flavor and pretty simple to assemble.  It travels well in a cooler to those summer potluck holiday meals.  Perfect!

 Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad

 1 12-16 oz. package of shell pasta (Large or small), cooked until tender and drained.

 2-3 boneless, skinless chicken breast, cooked, cooled, and diced (We like it grilled best but boiled is great too!)

 2 C. Ranch Dressing thinned w/ a little milk - appx 1/4 cup.

 4-6 slices of bacon, fried until crispy and crumbled (I like to use 6 slices of precooked bacon)

 1 C. celery, sliced

 1 avocado, peeled and cut into chunks and sprinkled with lemon juice to prevent browning.

 1 can black olives, sliced

 Green onion, Optional

 Mix all of the above ingredients together saving a few pieces of avocado and bacon out for garnish.  Chill until ready to serve.

 Serve with a hearty French Bread or Breadsticks!!

 Joy's Notes:   I almost never measure anything out for this salad.  I just add until it looks right. My kids always want me to add more olives.  :)  You may want more or less of the Ranch Dressing as the longer it sits the more the pasta absorbs.  If I have leftovers I add more dressing before serving it.

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