Caprese Salad

7/15/2013

Caprese is a simple salad made from fresh mozzarella, tomatoes and basil, it's usually seasoned with olive oil and salt.

There are so many variations, they are all super easy & super fresh.
I use Tre Stelle brand, creamy, slightly firm and this time I bought the
sliced medallions - yup, already sliced? Hello... how easy is that!
In the past I have bought the regular bocconcini but I do love the
pearls and mini minis, these are fantastic in salads!
I used them in this Tomato Salad.

Sometimes if I don't have any fresh basil, I'll just serve it naked.
Freshly ground salt, pepper and drizzle with olive oil.

If I have fresh basil, I'll layer it in.

Why stop at olive oil when you can go over the top in a flash....
Balsamic reduction.
It sounds like I'm getting all fancy and complicated on you,
but I swear this is sooooo easy!
I pour about a cup of balsamic vinegar (I love leftovers)
into a small saucepan and simmer for about 5-10 minutes until it starts to thicken, remove from heat and it will thicken even more.
Leftovers - drizzle on vanilla ice cream - oh yeah - trust me!
Drizzle over strawberries - ya gotta try it!
Slice strawberries over vanilla ice cream and drizzle away!

Your family & friends will start calling you Martha Stewart.

****** side note ******
I usually make/serve the recipes a few days or even weeks
before I write a post, posting photos causes serious cravings.
It's 8:10am as I'm putting this together on my blog and I seriously, like really, like really really want this salad right now.....like seriously.
MMmmmmmmmm.....

Now let me tell you about these little ZIMA tomatoes I LOVE, yup,
capital L - O - V - E, love them.
I buy these at Costco and what made me to buy these the
very first time was the label. Can you read it?
" Fed by warm sun, cool water and good people, these gorgeous globes are a sweet spot in your day. Pack them for lunch, pop them in salads, and remember to keep a cheery bowlful out for family snacking. Any way you eat it, Zima’s a total treat. Oh, and did we mention sweet? Well, we’re gonna say it again: Zima is sahhhweet. Seriously. "
SAHHHWEET????
Who says that other than cool people, hip happening people like myself ?
It's like the little clam packaging was opening up and calling my name.
SAHHHWEET - see now I can't stop saying it!
Just for your information - this is grown by Sunset produce and they are not paying me or compensating me in any way to say this....
but if they want to........SAHHHWEET !!!!
You're saying it now too right...?
I eat these like candy but I also love them in my Tomato Salad.

See how these little gems are orangish.....
Don't they look super fancy?
I just used my Tre Stelle sliced boccocini cut into smaller pieces, a little Zima, fresh basil and skewer them all together, drizzle with olive oil, sprikle with salt & pepper.... and YUM!
OR..... da da da daaaaaa.......

drizzle them with the balsamic reduction for over the top deliciousness!
Guaranteed that after you take the photos, you'll eat all 4 of these
and then lick the plate.... ummmm.....yeah, I did that!