Two Recipes in One!

Okay, I don't know why I haven't posted this recipe before because it's one of our favorites. And the great thing is that it's so easy and so fast. I literally made this in 35 minutes they other day, and that was with defrosting the chicken in the microwave. It's actually 2 recipes that are very similar but you can make it two ways. The first way is cold and is good for a light lunch because it doesn't have any meat. The second way is hot and has chicken and is great for dinner. I hope it's not confusing, sorry if it is.

Pasta with Uncooked Tomato and Olives
serves 4 as a main course

3 med. tomatoes
1 yellow pepper (optional)
2 garlic cloves
1 cup grated mozzarella
1/2 cup black olives (halved), 1 can
3 T extra virgin olive oil
1 T balsamic vinegar
1/2 lb spiral shaped pasta
Salt and pepper to taste (I probably do about 1/2 tsp of salt)
3/4 cup finely chopped herbs (basil and mint) (If you don't have mint it's still fine, but you should try it. It's really good!)
let stand 30 minutes

Mix it all together and it's as simple as that!

Balsamic Chicken and Noodles

1 lb cubed chicken breast
3 T olive oil
1 T Balsamic vinegar
Water (as needed, add at the end to get the desired amount of sauce that you want)
handful of basil finely chopped
Parmesan cheese (or like the first recipe I like to do mozzarella)
3 med diced tomatoes
Salt and pepper to taste
2 garlic cloves minced
1 can olives, halved, (optional, I liked it from the first recipe and put it in this one)
1/2 pound of spiral shaped pasta, cooked

Cook the chicken in olive oil, garlic until almost done. Add balsamic vinegar, salt, tomatoes, olives, and basil and cook until sauce is bubbly. Add water mix with either flour or cornstarch to thicken the sauce. You don't need a lot of water I probably add about 1/2 cup or less. Serve over pasta.