Hello everyone! Summer is here and it’s time to get out into the garden and grab a few items and make something simple yet delicious. A perfect dish for a warm summer evening. I know not everyone has a garden so even if you have to go to the store and buy these few items it’ll be worth the trip. It’s time to make a Caprese Salad or as it’s known around my house, that thing that’s made with tomatoes and basil.
Those two ingredients, tomatoes and basil, seem to represent summer to me. They both have a wonderful fresh smell and taste and if you’re growing them in your garden, you’ll probably have a nice supply of both for a couple months. Sure there are lots of things you can make with both ingredients separately, but together in a salad they are magic! The beauty of the Caprese salad is in it’s simplicity. Fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, basil, olive oil and salt, is all you need to create this dish. I like to add a little black pepper to mine or on occasion maybe a little balsamic vinegar. If you use those two ingredients the dish won’t have the colors of the Italian flag as it’s intended.
You can make Caprese salad with sliced tomatoes and sliced mozzarella, but I’ve grown fond of dicing the mozzarella and using cherry tomatoes cut in half, the cherry tomatoes hold up better if you’re not going to eat it right away. This is also one of those recipes that doesn’t really have an exact amount in it’s ingredients list, it’s more of adding this and that until it looks right. Below I’ll give you the guidelines and you can go from there.
- Use a bowl big enough to hold 6-8 cups
- 8 ounces fresh mozzarella diced.
- 2-3 cups cherry tomatoes, red or heirlooms, cut in half.
- 1 cup fresh basil, chopped, a few leaves for garnish if desired.
- 1/4 cup or more extra virgin olive oil
- salt to taste
- black pepper (optional)
- Mix everything together and adjust ingredients to taste.
There it is, simple, yet delicious. This salad goes well with grilled fish, chicken or a light pasta dish. Sometimes I might even eat it by itself with a nice hunk of bread. If you have other variations please feel free to share them in the comment box below. If you try this recipe please send in your comments as well. Thanks for stopping by, until next time Boone Appétit!
The salad looks delicious! The jar….could it be SUN TEA?
Yep its sun tea! Thats another thing that reminds me of summer and something I grew up with.
Molasses?
Hey Barko,
Claudia guessed it. Sun tea, she is from Arizona so she’s seen those jars outside of people’s homes for years. I recommend giving it a try if you like ice tea and have a spot that gets at least 8 hours of sun.
I can to that! Do you have a favorite concoction?
Hey Barko,
I think using the black tea you like best is a good place to start. In the south they might use Luzianne but my aunt uses Lipton and that works out well too. I like to make mine strong so I use around 21 tea bags in my gallon container, though you could get by with 16 tea bags.If you have any fresh herbs like lemon balm or mint you can add that in as well.
Let us know how it comes out.
Thanks, Charlie! I might try my favorite honey vanilla herbal!
Sangria?
Hi Cindy, that would be a great drink for the summer, but the picture is a jar of sun tea. Thanks for the reply.