Spaghetti

Plan:
Gather ingredients for a "Spaghetti with Tomato, Basil, and Olives" recipe from Cooking.com.

Used:

2 tomatoes, chopped
1/2 pound fresh mozzarella cheese (bought 1 pound), cut into cubes, at room temperature
A tray of fresh basil
6 oz. can of whole and pitted black olives
4 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
Unknown amount of salt
Unknown amount of black pepper
Unknown amount of spaghetti
Plenty of olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
About .75 lb boneless, chicken

Steps Taken:
Boiled water.
Added salt to boiling water.
Add spaghetti to boiling water. (Note: I typically snap the strands in half before throwing them in. I did so this time)
Added olive oil to water.

Washed tomatoes.
Chopped tomatoes.
Put tomatoes into bowl.
Opened can of olives.
Poured olive juice into boiling water.
Put olives into bowl.
About this point 9 minutes had passed since adding the spaghetti, so I strained the noodles and let them sit aside.
Chopped up about half of the basil leaves and added to bowl.
Added 4 tsp balsamic vinegar to bowl.
Cut mozzarella and added it to the bowl. Ate some by itself... haha.
Added salt and pepper. Tossed the ingredients.

Heated olive oil in a pan.
Minced and added the garlic.
Cut up the chicken into pieces.
Threw in the chicken.
I decided to add what remained of the basil leaves.
It took about 20 minutes for the chicken to cook.
I got a piece to 180 degrees Fahrenheit, so I supposed the meat was cooked.
I added a quantity of olive oil to the chicken to heat up.
I slowly added the olive oil to the bowl.
Then threw the chicken in. Done!

Outcome:
It's best to pull out the pasta, and then use a ladle or some sort of scoop to get up all the other ingredients such as the chicken, olives, tomatoes, cheese, etc.
My initial thought was that there was too much olive oil on the noodle. Oh well, it tastes good, just note to self: it can be reduced.
The chicken tends towards being overcooked, but definitely has a hint of the basil flavor that reminds me of the basil-flavored chicken from the boba places back home in CA. In any case, I decided to shoot for overcooked or cooked instead of accidently hitting cooked or undercooked. No piece is burnt. Slightly dry. But eating the chicken together with the tomato and spaghetti is sufficient to overlook the dryness of the chicken. Oh I remember the adjective I should use: crispy; yeah most pieces have a hard, crispy outside, and retain some moisture inside.
Tomato definitely adds to the dish, as it soaks up the balsamic vinegar.
The olives contribute their own flavor. I don't see any disadvantage of leaving the olives whole. Let me know if there is a good reason to cut them in half.
I love the texture of the mozzarella in the dish.

Summary:
Minus overdoing the olive oil and only satisfactory attempt at chicken, which isn't part of the dish as posted, I'd say today's meal was a positive experience.

To Change:
I lost time in starting the chicken at the end. If I started the chicken at the beginning, and then tended pasta and other ingredients, then I could have cut my cooking length from about an hour to half an hour. And when I get used to some of the steps, I could probably cut the length down to twenty minutes. Without the chicken, then the meal is supposedly fifteen minutes. I believe. The next change requires experience, but the balance between getting the chicken cooked and keeping it from becoming dry is a big goal.