♩♫♪♩You say tomato and I say tomato. ♩♫♪♩You say basil and I say…uh…basil. Tomato ♫ tomato, basil, ♬ mozarella. ♩♫♩♩♫ Let’s make a caprese salad!
How many of you just sang along with me? I wanted to sing that song at my wedding reception to the Hubs, but I chickened out. It was a bit of a theme song for our relationship pre-marriage. Wow, did it ever take us a long time to get to the altar! Did you know that we were engaged once, but I broke off our engagement? Yeah, I’ll have to tell you our love story someday. It’s a good one filled with lots of drama. But not today. Because today….we’re continuing our series of “beat the heat” by making a lovely no-cook meal together. (If you missed yesterday, I showed you how to make “no cook” hair. Ew. Let me rephrase that. I showed you how to make yourself beautiful without using heat styling on your hair.)
Caprese salad is light, refreshing, beautiful, and easy. What more can you ask for from a meal? Here is what you do. Gather your homegrown, market, grocery store tomatoes, fresh basil, and fresh mozzarella. I prefer to use the mozzarella pearls rather than the big chunk simply because it turns out prettier with cherry tomatoes.
Then do the same with your cheese and basil. Tip: I use scissors to snip my herbs. I find that it goes faster and doesn’t bruise the leaves.
Go Italy! No wonder they use these colors for their flag. Gorgeous!
(Just in case you have no idea what I’m talking about…)
Mix olive oil, balsamic vinegar or red wine vinegar, salt, and pepper together in a small bowl. Amounts are up to you. I like a lot of salt, so I use sea salt because it’s courser and just makes me feel fancy. I also must be losing my mind because I bought THREE various containers of sea salt on three separate shopping trips, all within a few weeks of each other and forgot each time that I already had purchased some. Uh…yeah. I need to get more sleep or start taking gingko biloba or whatever the latest memory herb is out there.
Next, place all of your chopped goodness in a bowl and drizzle on your dressing. Mix gently and serve! You can make this in the morning and serve later in the day if you like a colder more combined taste.
With a side of crusty bread and a glass of white wine this makes for one fantastically fresh and lovely meal. It’s also a very simple and surprisingly different salad to bring to a gathering. Enjoy and stay cool!
Okay, one bite for you before you go… Good eh?
For more great recipes, be sure to check out It’s A Blog Party.
Yesterday I came by from the 'salad party' and took note of your salad. so today my family came for lunch and I made this and served with some yummy sourdough bread. My family ALL went nuts over it! I added a few leaves of romaine to make it a bit more crunchy and the family went on and on about it. THANKS so much for sharing. It will now be a salad I makie for family sunday get togethers! 🙂
After seeing this I went out and bought the ingredients (no home grown tomatoes unfortunately). Tastes amazing, thank you!
This is my all-time favorite salad! Great summer meal too. 🙂
Beautiful and yummy looking salad. Beautiful photos too.
Looks like a great salad! Looks delicious.
Stopping by from Traci's Salad Party.
God bless and may you have a sweet week,
d from homehaven
Hi!
Just to let you know, I mentioned this recipe in my post today! Thanks!
http://spontaneousday.blogspot.com
Thanks for linking up Beth! 🙂
Ahhh, Elisabetta!
(There MUST be a bit of Italiana in you!)
This is true Italian cooking — a simple preparation that focuses on wonderfully fresh ingredients. I get up on my high horse when I read "Italian" recipes with too much spice and garlic (my Nonna NEVER cooked with garlic) — but you've got it exactly right.
Have you tried Italian white bean salad? You'll love it!
It's here: http://dolcecapecod.blogspot.com/2010/06/insalata-di-fagioli-cannellini-means.html
With a big "wave" from hot, humid Cape Cod,
Jude at
dolcecapecod dot blogspot.com
Those are delicious as appetizers on skewers as kabobs are bite sized on toothpicks. I've also served it over fresh spinach leaves. YUMMMOOOO Throw some prosciutto on it and it's dinner all by itself
I'm tryin this, this weekend! I hope it looks as delish as yours!! Also thank you so much for the birthday wishes and that pole, well haha! It wasnt as succesful as it seemed haha those things are hard!! All in good fun , I had a wonderful bday! Lookin forward to your next post! <3
You don't know how yummers this looks to me, Beth! And I just had lunch… tee hee
Hope all is well w/you and yours. It is just busy, busy here, and I am SO behind on my visiting. Anyhow, here I am and I'll try to come for another visit again soon.
hugs, Sue
DROOL, Nothing in my opinion is better than caprese. Your photos look amazing.
Looks great, love a good caprese! It's great in bruschetta form too. I've been posting about Martha Stewarts 6 bruschetta recipes in her May issue. Trying to have a new one each weekend, yum!
I'm going to the store to get the ingredients I need to make this. Right. NOW. Thanks!
http://spontaneousday.blogspot.com
Oh I love this one!! Now I am making it this weekend. Looks delicious!
So fresh and beautiful, I love the three together!
Oh yummy!
This is my first visit to your blog. Love it!
Now I want salad. I don't think I've said that in awhile. 😉 Looks delish!!!
First – amazing photos!
Recipe sounds delish.
Made this this weekend but didn't know what it was called!!!haha!
I love Caprese Salad. Love your post. It made me smile – like your cherry tomatoes! 🙂
I knew how to make this, Beth, but I had such a great time reading your post, it made me giggle!!
xoxo
Jane
Caprese is one of my favorite summer salads. Good, ripe tomatoes make a huge difference in the flavor!!!
No word of a lie, I bought all these ingredients this past grocery shopping trip. I've been craving caprese salad! I've been kind of debating on what to have for dinner and I think this may be it for me tonight!
This looks absolutely delish! Yum!! Thank you for sharing your recipe! I will be giving this a try real soon!
Blessings,
~Lynn
Y-U-M!
not even lying, i made this last night! Well, a lil more ghetto – didn't have sea salt or good pepper, so it was table s&p – but still delish! great summer dish!
Erin, just wanted to let you know that most cheeses (unless imported from other countries) ARE pasteurized. You need not fear goat cheese, gouda, or mozzarella! Check packaging of course, but you'll see in the ingredients that mozzarella uses pasteurized whole milk! Enjoy for two (and congrats)!
This is one of our favorites and we DID have it in Italy served to us by my Sister-in-law. Since then we try not to eat too much cheese, but one of our favorite (almost every day in the summer) salads is fresh tomatoes, cukes, purple onion, basil all chopped up and mixed together with or without a basil type dressing. It is so good it needs no dressing!
This is one of my favorites! My father-in-law's wife who is Italian also adds pitted Kalamata olives to the mix. Yum!
Love love LOVE the Caprese salad. Bummed that I'm pregnant and that puts mozzarella cheese on the No-No list (since it's not pasteurized).
For my hubby's 30th birthday we had a shindig at the (newly-renovated) house and I served this salad… with a twist! Instead of making it in a bowl, I made it on toothpicks and drizzled the oil and vinegar over the top. It looked something like the photo in this link (tho with a little less basil): http://www.foodchannel.com/recipes/1206-caprese-salad-appetizer It was much more finger-food ready and a nice little treat on each toothpick. I do it like this a lot as an appetizer when we have folks over for dinner.
Oh my stars, that looks so good!
One of my favorite summer meals!!!
Beth, that looks absolutely scrumptious! I love tomatoes and mozzarella.
I am having a Salad linky Party on Friday. Hope you can come and bring this delicious salad. 🙂
Hope you are doing well. I have been working full time this summer and I haven't been able to blog as much as I normally do. Been missing u guys!
Take care.
Traci
Ha! Look not looks.
PS We love sea salt too!
Yum-O! This looks so light and tasty Beth. I'm trying it this weekend. *Smiles* It does looks happy!