You need to fix a meal, but it’s too hot to spend time in the kitchen. Let fresh tomatoes come to the rescue. Caprese salad, an Italian mix of tomatoes and mozzarella cheese, is the appetizer you can put together in minutes – the snack to serve with crackers or toasted baguette slices – the side dish for a summery meal like our grilled chicken wings or our vegan garlicky roasted cauliflower.
Caprese salad is seasoned with salt and olive oil, and made lively with basil or aragula. Couldn’t be simpler. If you prefer to dribble some good home-made pesto over the salad, even better. Scatter some olives around the vegetables and gently mix them in – better yet.
Have some dried, ground oregano or za’atar herb handy? Sprinkle a light seasoning of either on the salad, about half a teaspoon. Not traditional, but tasty.
Caprese Salad
6-8 servings
Ingredients:
3 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
12 oz. mozzarella cheese balls, halved
A handful of fresh basil or aragula leaves, or 2 tablespoons pesto
Olive oil to dribble over the salad, if not using pesto
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Author: Miriam Kresh
Miriam Kresh is an American ex-pat living in Israel. Her love of Middle Eastern food evolved from close friendships with enthusiastic Moroccan, Tunisian and Turkish home cooks. She owns too many cookbooks and is always planning the next meal. Miriam can be reached at miriam (at) greenprophet (dot) com.
