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Wednesday, August 13, 2008

$15 Heirloom Tomato Caprese Salad for $5

How much would you pay for this heirloom tomato caprese salad?


heirloom tomato caprese salad 


Well, if you were just given a flat of the best heirloom tomatoes from Wild Boar Farms, you wouldn't have to pay much at all.

Wild Boar Farms Heirloom Tomato


wild boar farms unnamed striped tomato 

And if you grew your own basil in your backyard, it would be even less.

(Unfortunately, I don't have a water buffalo in the backyard, so I had to pay $4 for an 8 ounce tub of fresh mozzarella.)

Heirloom Tomato Caprese Salad


Ingredients:
3 large heirloom tomatoes
1 tub (8 oz) of fresh mozzarella
20 fresh basil leaves
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper

Method:


  1. Slice tomatoes into 1/4-inch thick slices

  2. Slice mozzarella into 1/4-inch thick slices about the same size as the tomato slices

  3. Intersperce slices of tomato, mozzarella, and basil leaves

  4. Drizzle olive oil over the salad.*

  5. Sprinkle with some kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper


Turn a $5 salad into a $15 salad


If you want to get fancy, you can slice one tomato nearly all the way through, but leave the pieces connecting at the bottom. Then stuff the mozzarella and basil in between the slices. You can use a knife to separate the remainder of the tomato when you're ready to eat. I got the idea from Jacques Pepin's show "Fast Food My way".

heirloom tomato caprese salad 


*You might be wondering, "where's the balsamic vinegar?" Sorry, Charlie, but Caprese salad traditionally does not have balsamic vinegar. No doubt, balsamic and tomato go well together, as in my Strawberry and Tomato Salad. But balsamic vinegar does not belong in caprese salad.

Aloha, Nate

This post was submitted to Weekend Herb Blogging, created by Kalyn's Kitchen and hosted this week by Palachinka.

12 Comments:

White on Rice Couple said...

How pretty and a great way to feast like a king! I'm bad, I like balsamic vinegar in my Caprese Salad. But I do recall a few times in Italy seeing the locals drizzle their caprese salad with a touch of the vinegar, so maybe is it OK? But then again, I saw Italians drizzle olive oil and vinegar on many of their dishes like I drizzle soy sauce on almost everything! I'm a barbarian.

Hey Nate, was it you that won the video camera? If so, congrats!!! You lucky duckie!

eatingclubvancouver_js said...

$4 for 8 oz of fresh mozzarella seems cheap. And caprese salad, especially with heirloom tomatoes, is always a thing of beauty. Great stuff!

Fool for Food said...

I'm a huge fan of heirloom tomatoes - always been. Your Caprese salad looks so delicious!

Anonymous said...

I keep seeing Caprese Salad. It's a sign.
Yours looks phenomenal.

Ashley said...

I was the proud recipient of a whole bag full of tomatoes yesterday (whoopee!) as I only grew cherry tomatoes this year I have to be creative with my newfound crop of heirlooms.. Delicious presentation you have made. I can't wait to try it.

Julia said...

I disagree....love balsamic vinegar on caprese salad!!

If you have a Costco nearby, they have fantastic prices on fantastic mozzarella.

Jude said...

Haha. if only we all had water buffalos in the backyard, we'd have bowls of this with every meal. Nothing better than a proper caprese with heirlooms in the summer.

Nate @ House of Annie said...

@WoRC - yep, we did win the camera. So look for more cooking vids soon!

@JS - it tasted as good as it looked.

@Claudia - thanks!

@blood sugar - thank you.

@Ashley - I'll bet you go through that bag pretty quickly.

@Julia - you say tomato...

@Jude - yep. nothing better.

NKP said...

So pretty, I want a poster of this in my kitchen.
I'd put a buffalo on the Christmas list, see what happens.
Cheers.

Kalyn Denny said...

Wow, those tomatoes are really beautiful. Your salad looks like an absolutely perfect way to eat them. Great photos too!

Nate @ House of Annie said...

@Natashya - thanks for the compliment!

@Kalyn - thank you, also.

Anonymous said...

A beautiful capreses salad. In all the times I have been in Italy I have never been served vinegar of any form to go with my caprese. Now if only I had some nice hierloom tomatoes to enjoy . . .