Pasta salad with chicken, olives and capers

Simple but still easy and very tasty salad to enjoy also as a light meal. The chicken and the peppers can be prepared from the day before. Just a couple of hours before serving all you need to do is to mix the ingredients all together

Recipe of Dimitris Andreou,
from "Cook Book" magazine of "ETHNOS" newspaper

Ingredients (for 4 people)

For the salad:
1 packet of fusilli pasta
4 chicken breast fillets, cut in bite-size pieces
1 red bell pepper, cut in strips
1 yellow bell pepper, cut in strips
4 tbsp of olive oil
1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
4 sundried tomatoes, cut in cubes
1 tbsp of capers
15 Kalamata olives, cut in pieces
6 sprigs fresh basil (or spearmint), finely chopped
15 cherry tomatoes, cut in half
salt
pepper
Greek Kefalotyri cheese, grated (or parmesan)

For the dressing:
1 tbsp of plain vinegar
1 tbsp of balsamic vinegar
½ tea-cup of olive oil
1 clove of garlic
1 tsp of sugar
1 tsp of sweet paprika
1 tsp of salt
pepper

Method:

Boil the pasta, drain well, transfer in a large salad bowl and leave aside to cool.

While the pasta is boiling, warm the oil in a non-stick frying pan on medium-high heat. Sauté the chicken and the peppers seasoning with some salt and pepper, stirring with a spatula until the peppers get tender and the chicken is cooked through and lightly coloured.

Put in the blender all the sauce ingredients and whiz until they are well blended.

Add in the salad bowl the chicken and the peppers and mix with the pasta. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix again.

Pour over with the dressing and leave the salad in the fridge for 1 hour. Just before serving, mix again and serve-sprinkling on top with some grated cheese (optional) and black pepper.

The salad is also nice if served lukewarm.