Caprese Salad Your Way

The most impressive salad I ever had, was at

an Italian restaurant in Cabo, and it was a

Caprese Salad, stacked like this, swimming in

a luscious basil and olive oil dressing.  We would

order it every time.  It was a little pricey, but 

everyone would order one.  Then one fateful day,

we ordered four of them at our table, and someone

had decided to ruin the Caprese Salad.  There were

a few slices of unripe tomatoes on the plate, a few

pieces of cheese and some basil.  Gone was the stunning

stack,  the beautifully ripened tomatoes and the

fabulous dressing.  I am not one to complain at a restaurant,

but paying for four awful salads, at a high price each, was a

bit much for me.  Well, my complaint fell on deaf

ears, and that was the last time we went back there.

The great thing, is it is really easy to make at home,

and with my tomatoes coming on, today is the

perfect day.  I also was just recently home for

a high school reunion and a family reunion and I

happened to pick up the most amazing 

fresh basil cheese, and I thought this would be the

perfect cheese to serve with it.

If you are going to stack your Caprese Salad, slice it

and then cut it into perfect rounds the size of your

tomato slices, this way you will get a neater and prettier

presentation.  I just snacked on my scraps.

This makes such an elegant statement for a salad, but

you can also serve it on a platter.  I like to play

with the cheeses that I serve as I find mozzarella

a little bland.  I have used Monterey Jack before,

but this Fresh Basil Farmer's Cheese is the best

I have tried.

 Look at this beautiful Fresh Basil Farmer's Cheese with

basil all the way through it.  We bought it at Brennan's in 

Madison, Wisconsin, where we filled a cooler with wonderful

Wisconsin cheese to bring home.

Caprese Salad with Basil Dressing

Sliced Fresh Tomatoes

Sliced cheese

3T. fresh basil

1/4 C. extra virgin olive oil

1/2 tsp. Balsamic vinegar

Squeeze of lemon juice

Pinch salt

Layer the tomatoes and cheese as desired.

Place the basil, oil, vinegar, lemon and salt

in a blender and pulse until the basil is

finely chopped.  Drizzle over the tomatoes and cheese.

I will be sharing this with

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