caprese salad

This has to be one of my all time favorite meals, and one of the easiest too.  I love this salad for lunch but it also makes a fantastic first course or you can make a lot of this for a party.  It is always a hit.  After all, who doesn't like tomatoes with cheese and basil?

Ingredient List:

Fresh Mozzarella Cheese, 1 large ball.  This is becoming much easier to find.  You can find it in the fancy cheese section of your grocery store.

Fresh Tomatoes, about 6-8 ounces worth.  I like the small hydroponic ones myself.  We had a problem getting good, ripe tomatoes this year and the hydroponic have been great.  Roma tomatoes or vine ripe would be best for this dish, but any tomato would work really.

Fresh Basil.  This is important.  It has to be fresh.  It's just not right to use dried.  If you are good with plants, you can grow it yourself.  It will grow like a weed, unless you are me, then it will sit on your window sill and die.

Good olive oil

Salt & Pepper, to taste

How to make this:

1.  Start by slicing up the mozzarella and the tomatoes into 1/4" slices.

2.  Chiffonade the basil.  Now I know some of you are like, Christina, WTF is a chiffonade?  Don't worry, I took pics...

Step 1:  Pick the leaves of the basil off the stems and stack like so...make sure your largest leaf is on the bottom.

Step 2:  Roll the stack up tightly until you get a solid roll like so...

Step 3:  Slice the roll until you get nice little strands of basil.  This is what it should look like...

3.  After you have done your slicing you should have 3 piles that look like this...

4.  Arrange artfully on a plate, alternating tomatoes with cheese.  I like to do a circle personally, but you can line them up or even mix them all together...Whatever floats your boat...After you have arranged them sprinkle with the chiffonade basil.  Then drizzle the olive oil and sprinkle a pinch of salt & pepper to taste.  Your done!  See, nice, easy, healthy meal or very tasty appetizer...

Buon Appetito!