BLT Pasta Salad

The ""BLT" Bacon Lettuce and tomato turned into a tasty pasta salad side dish!"

Now as you know from the Bacon wrapped corn on the cob post, my husband loves his bacon!  So here I took the classic BLT and turned it into the perfect meal.  Here we both get our favorite things, pasta and bacon!  You will need the ingredients below to get started:

Ingredients:

1 Box Mini Bow Tie Pasta (cooked) 2 Ripe Heirloom Tomato's (chopped) 2 Cups Iceberg Lettuce (chopped) 5 Strips Apple-wood Smoked Bacon (cooked and chopped) 1 Can Medium Black Olives (Sliced) 1 Cup Ken's Light Ranch Dressing 1/2 Cup Ken's Ranch Dressing 1/2 Cup Sunflower Seed Oil 2 TBSP Lemon Juice 1 TBSP Dried Basil 1 TBSP Black Pepper 1 TBSP Salt 5 TBSP Bacon Bits Once you have the above items prepped and ready to go you can follow my easy to follow instructions below:

Combine Ranch dressing, Sunflower Seed Oil and Lemon juice in large bowl. Add Basil, Black Pepper and Salt. Next, Stir in prepared pasta and mix well to coat pasta. Gently Stir in Tomatoes, Lettuce and olives. Lastly stir in the chopped bacon and bacon bits. Refrigerate for 1 hour and ENJOY!

Fresh Summer Salad

With all this heat lately no one really feels up to cooking but you still need dinner.  I love a great salad, and no not just a bowl of lettuce, a SALAD!!  These days you can find pretty much anything in a salad and many combo's you wouldn't typically think of pairing together.  My favorite is to add some fruit  and nuts to your veggies, especially berries! Below I chose a mix of romaine and red leaf lettuce with tomato's, cucumbers, black olives, pecans and raspberries to top it all off! Add a splash of Raspberry Vinaigrette and you have yourself a nice healthy cooling summer meal! And don't forget, you can always throw a piece of chicken or some leftover chicken you may have to add some protein to your dish.