OK, so it’s November and in most of the country you no longer have the luxury of fresh vegetables from your garden. I know, but… I woke up this morning to just a small amount of rain and was nostalgic for my Summer garden. While I live in Southern California and still have fresh basil and a few tomatoes in my garden, it’s not enough to make this dish without supplementing from the farmers market or the organic section of the grocery store, I still had to have some caprese salad. Sometimes we have to go out of our way to remind ourselves that Summer will be back and we will be wondering what to do with all of those tomatoes then anyway. And, of course, if you didn’t come across this post outside of fresh vegetable season where you live, then great. Ignore my earlier ramble.  Happy Eating!

Ingredients

• 3-5 tomatoes
• 1 small red onion
• mozzarella cheese
• 1.2 – 2/3 cup of fresh basil
• balsamic vinegar
• olive oil
• orange juice
• salt
• pepper

Instructions

• Wash tomatoes, remove the greens/core, and slice into 1/4″ thick pieces.
• Arrange slices in a layer on a large plate.
• Slice mozzarella cheese into 1/4″ thick pieces and arrange on top of tomatoes.

  

• Cut red onion into small, bite size slices and place around tomatoes.
• Wash and press dry (with a paper towel) the basil. Separate pieces and arrange around the tomatoes and onions.
• In a separate bowl, make approximately 1/3 cup of dressing.
  • Fill glass measuring cup to a little below 1/3 cup line with about 1/2 of this height coming from olive oil and half from balsamic vinegar.
  • Add 3 T of orange juice.
  • Add salt and pepper amounts to your preference. About 1/2 tsp each minimum.
  • Mix well.
• Pour dressing over plate with tomatoes, cheese, onions and basil.
• Serve now or chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes

  

  

And your final plate should look something like:

 

Ideas

• Orange juice – If you have fresh oranges, this is even tastier when you squeeze them for your juice. You could (and should) add some orange zest (up to 1 T) to the dressing mix.
• Tomatoes – for an even more beautiful display and extra flavor, use different colored tomatoes like yellow and orange or heirloom tomatoes.
• Salt and Pepper – if you have them, always grind fresh. I use at least 12 revolutions of ground pepper and salt in my dressing.
• If you chill the plate before serving, the flavors are more pronounced and the tomatoes have had time to absorb more of the dressing… additional flavor. Yum!