Caprese Salad

I love Summer in the city! We had a lovely Boston Summer day today - Charlotte, Andy, and I walked around Boston and ultimately ended up at a local farmer's market where we picked up some raspberries to snack on and some farm-fresh peaches for Charbug. Before we left, we picked up some fresh local mozzarella as well as some absolutely delicious heirloom cherry tomatoes, which are pretty much nature's candy...yummm. When we got home, I added some basil from our herb garden and a little balsamic vinegar, and what we ended up with was a perfect, light, delicious summer dinner. This can hardly be called a recipe because all I really did was cut some tomatoes, but regardless of what you call it, this salad sure is delicious! Enjoy! :o)

Caprese Salad

Yield: 2 salads

Ingredients
8 oz. fresh mozzarella*, sliced
1 cup cherry tomatoes
10 leaves basil, torn
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar (the more syrupy, the better)
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions:
Arrange the mozzarella on two plates and season to taste with salt. Cut the tomatoes in half and put them on top of the cheese, then season with more salt and some pepper. Top with the basil, then drizzle some balsamic vinegar on top and serve. Yum! 

* as a [delicious] substitute, we often use high-quality whole milk ricotta cheese (store bought or homemade) in place of the mozzarella. It is to.die.for! 

Panzanella

So I've started running. No, I haven't gone crazy! I'm going to try to run the St. Patrick's day 5k in Southie this year :o) To keep up my energy, I need to increase my carb intake a bit, so I decided to make this salad to go along side some roasted chicken the other night. It came out great and we couldn't stop picking at the salad before dinner! Panzanella is basically a salad loaded with veggies and bread in large cubes, much like big croutons. It is best with bread that is a few days old so that it doesn't get too mushy. I used up some whole wheat ciabatta that we had from a few nights earlier, and it was amazing! I'm sure this salad would be even better in Summer when there are super-fresh local veggies available, but a hothouse heirloom tomato worked wonderfully and was so flavorful. The beauty of this recipe is that you can add or take away any of the veggies to suit your own taste. We had some avocado lying around so we cubed it up and added it to the top of each portion and it was delicious. Have fun with it :o) This recipe is adapted from Ina Garten's.  Enjoy

Panzanella 

makes 2-4 servings 

Ingredients

2 tbsp. olive oil

3 cups day-old bread, cut into 1 inch cubes

1 tomato, cut into 1 inch cubes

1 yellow bell pepper, cut into 1 inch cubes

1/2 English cucumber, halved lengthwise, seeds scooped out, and cut into 1/2 inch slices

10 basil leaves torn into large pieces

1/4 red onion, halved and cut into 1/2 inch slices

1/4 cup kalamata olives, pitted and sliced in half

Vinaigrette
1/2 tsp. finely minced garlic
1/4 tsp. dijon mustard
1 1/2 tbsp. white wine vinegar or champagne vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 tsp. salt (kosher)
1/8 tsp. black pepper

In the bottom of a large bowl, whisk together all ingredients for the vinaigrette. Add the sliced onion and allow to sit while you prepare the other ingredients.

Heat oil in a large skillet. Add bread cubes and toast for 5 minutes or so until all sides are browned. Keep an eye on them and toss frequently so they don't burn! Add the toasted bread to the bowl with the vinaigrette.

Add all other ingredients to the bowl and toss to coat with the dressing. It is best to let the panzanella sit for 30 minutes or so to let all of the flavors meld together. Yum!