Lou Rocco's Cold Chicken Pasta Salad

Yes, my husband's best buddy really is named Lou Rocco. This is a recipe his brother Mickey came up with. First Lou, then I modified it to suit our tastes. Like any salad, there is no precision in this recipe. Add more of what you like, less of what you don't.

12 oz pasta noodles (I like spiral)
8 oz refrigerated spinach and ricotta tortellini (cheese tortellini is good too)
2 medium chicken breasts
6 roma tomatoes
1 large bell pepper (or, if you're me, not)
8 oz feta cheese (I like a one container tomato and basil, one container of plain)
25 green olives (or black...)
Extra virgin olive oil
4 tbsp lemon juice

Spices for chicken:
2 bay leaves
dash of thyme
dash of rosemary
dash of pepper

Pre-chop chicken into bite sized pieces. Cook chicken in a frying pan, adding spices to both sides, until chicken turns golden brown. Put chicken in fridge to cool.

Cook pastas according to package directions. Rinse, put it in fridge to cool.

Thinly chop olives, tomatoes and peppers. Toss with noodles in a large bowl.

Spices for salad:
3 tbsp crushed parsley
3 tbsp dried basil (fresh works too)
1 tbsp pepper
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp celery seed
1 tsp Italian seasoning

Add all spices to salad, along with cheese. Thinly coat salad with olive oil to taste. Add lemon juice. Stir - and stir again.

Chill until ready to serve. Stir before serving. You may need to add more olive oil, since the pasta soaks it up.

Note: This makes a HUGE batch, but keeps for about a week.