Marinated Tomato & Mozzarella Pasta

Now we are in the month of October. It is one of my favorite months. One gets to wear sweaters, especially hoodies, I love hoodies. I wish to own a red one. A particularly bright red one, so that I may look more like Little Red Riding Hood. In addition, to the hoodie I would wear red lipstick. Then I would only be missing my big bad wolf. Ah, to dream.

Another reason I love this month is because of Halloween. I love costumes and dressing up. I wish I was as creative as some of the people out there but I enjoy what I buy. If only every Friday of the month of October would Halloween and we could dress up more. What a shame it's only for one day.

Book: Doña Barbara by Romulos Gallegos. A Spanish novel this time. It's going to take me a while because reading in Spanish for me is a slow process but I'm hoping to improve my own Spanish. So far it's been interesting the novel.

iTunes: Juan Luis Guerra & 4.40 - La Bilirrubina. It's about that feeling you get when you see your crush but they don't see you.

Pandora: The Rolling Stones - Everyone Needs Somebody to Love. So true. Both songs deal with a crush or love. Everyone does need someone to love.

Quote: For small creatures such as we the vastness is bearable only through love. - Carl Sagan

Ingredients:

1. 1 lb grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
2. 4 oz bocconcini (about 12sm mozzarella balls), halved
3. 1/2 C torn fresh basil
4. 1/4 C red Wine Vinegar
5. 1 1/2 Tbsp extra virgin Olive Oil
6. 1/2 lb rigatoni, preferably whole wheat
7. 1 c shredded cooked chicken breast

Servings: 6
Nutrition (per Serving): 282 cal, 16g pro, 31g carb, 4g fiber, 9.5g fat, 3.5g sat fat, 86mg sodium

Directions:

1. Mix together tomatoes, bocconcini, basil, vinegar, and oil in serving bowl. Let stand 10 minutes.

• Did not have basil leaves so I used ground basil. I did not measure it so you are going to have to eyeball it. Also I used Rotini because they did not have rigatoni.
2. Cook Pasta per package directions until al dente while tomatoes stand. Drain. Add hot pasta and chicken to tomato mixture, stirring to coat well. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Top with Fresh basil leaves, if desired.


• No issues with the pasta, just added salt before boiling.
• The chicken was cooked with 2 garlic cloves, 1/4 teaspoons of pepper and salt, 1/4 teaspoon of caldo de pollo and 1 tablespoon of water.
• After the pasta was drained the chicken was mixed with a giant spoon. I mixed and coated it with some salt and pepper but again very little and I eyeballed it again. I wish we could have topped it with fresh basil leaves but couldn't find any in the local supermarket.

This tasted amazing. Well the wheat pasta tasted a bit ugh only because I don't like wheat pasta but the cherry tomatoes with the vinegar and everything was just great. This is definately something that will be remade. It was light and refreshing. Next time will be Brownie Bites.