Bacon-Ranch Pasta Salad

This is a wonderful pasta salad that I tried for the very first time this evening for dinner.  The sweet hubby LOVED it!  I "lightened" it up a little from the original ingredients but it was absolutely scrumptious!  Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 12 ounce package of uncooked tri-color rotini pasta
10 slices of fresh cooked bacon OR packaged "real" bacon bits
1/2 to 1/3 Cup of low-fat Dukes Mayo
3 T. Hidden Valley Ranch-dry powder salad dressing mix
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. garlic pepper (can use regular pepper if you don't have garlic pepper)
1/2 cup milk (or as needed)
1 large tomato chopped (or I used little grape tomatoes cut in half)
1 (4.5 ounce) can sliced black olives
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese (I used low-fat)
*optional* I love green onions so I chopped up a couple and threw them in too!  Of course, chopped purple onions would be good too!

Directions:

1.  Bring a large pot of slightly salted water to a boil and stir in pasta.  Cook for 10-12 minutes until al dente and drain.

2.  In a large bowl mix the mayo, ranch mix, garlic powder and garlic pepper together.  Stir in the milk and wisk until well mixed and smooth.  Place the pasta,  bacon, tomatoes, black olives and cheese in a bowl and pour on dressing and gently mix all of it together well.

3.  Cover the bowl and chill for about and hour and you can add additional milk if it seems to get a little dry. 

It was so good!