Ensalada Caprese

I know it’s not summer, and good tomatoes are hard to find. But for some reason, I just had my heart set on making a Caprese salad the other night. With a little luck, I did find some decent vine-ripened tomatoes in the grocery store. Be warned, however. They are not cheap at this time of the year – but during the summer, visit the farmer’s markets and get garden fresh tomatoes at a fraction of the price.

This salad is incredibly simple to make, and it looks so impressive once it is all assembled.

Ingredients:

• 5 to 6 vine ripened tomatoes
• 1 bunch of fresh basil
• 1 pound of fresh buffalo mozzarella
• olive oil

Directions

1. Pick the basil leaves off the plant or stems, wash and drain.
2. Slice each tomato into approximately 4-5 thick slices.
3. Slice the mozzarella into similarly sized pieces.

On a nice serving plate, alternate placing a slice of tomato, mozzarella and basil leaf. Continue the combination trio to cover your dish.

Before serving, drizzle with olive oil and a few twists of cracked sea salt.

TIP:

Instead of just olive oil, whip up a quick honey-balsamic dressing. In a food processor, blend a ¼ cup of Balsamic vinegar, 2 to 3 tablespoons of olive oil, and a couple tablespoons of honey.

You can prepare everything ahead of time, but wait until you are ready to serve to drizzle the dressing.