We are in the dog days o
f summer and everything is ripe and ready to eat. It is far too hot to cook indoors and as the evenings are getting cool it is a reminder to spend as much time outdoors as possible because the famous Oregon rain will be here soon.
This meal came out of a long day followed by bad news. I found myself standing with the fridge door open wondering what was inside. I have always loved caprese salad when the tomatoes are ripe and since I can’t leave well enough alone, I riffed on the theme. Feel free to add whatever you have on hand.
Traditional Ingredients:
- 1-2 perfectly ripe beefsteak type tomato (heirloom have the best flavor)
- 1/2 lb of fresh mozzarella (I usually have equal parts tomato to mozzarella)
- handful of basil leaves
- olive oil (if you have a fancy bottle, this would be the time to break it out)
- salt & pepper (use your fancy salt & fresh cracked pepper)
What we added:
- 2 ears of corn, roasted on the bbq, kernals cut off
- 2 sweet peppers, cut & seeded
- 4 slices of crusty bread, toasted and rubbed down with a raw garlic clove
Preparation:
Traditionally the tomatoes are cut into slices like you’d put on a sandwich. We elected to cut them into ‘segments’ (not sure what to call them – see photos). The mozzarella that we had was the large buffalo type – the 2 balls in the container were the size of a decent sized tomato (although any size would do). The cheese was cut the same way as the tomato. These were arranged around the side of the platter leaving a hole in the middle.
In the hole we piled the roasted corn. Then the handful of basil was thrown on. We had some extra mozzarella that didn’t fit with the display below – it was added on top. The sweet pepper was sprinkled around.
Add anything you’ve got ripe in the garden or attracting fruit flies on your counter. Maybe peas, or grilled zucchini, cherry tomatoes, new potatoes, olives, artichoke hearts, green beans? This starts heading toward a salad nicoise but that is my favorite meal on this earth – so I can’t fault you there.
A healthy amount of olive oil was poured over. Sprinkle salt and crack pepper over the top.
The bread was toasted & rubbed down with a raw garlic clove on one side. Drizzle a little olive oil on the bread. The bread is great to soaking up the olive oil and tomato juice collecting on the bottom of the serving plate.
Open the bottle of white wine. If its cheap like ours add a few ice cubes and enjoy!
a sit-down dinner 