Easy Caprese Salad

This will probably be the shortest post and recipe I’ll ever write here, but it’s pretty fitting for the topic at hand. After all, a Caprese salad is one of THE most simple dishes you can make. It’s a dish that’s so, so simple yet so unbelievably delicious. It’s comprised of just 5 key ingredients: fresh mozzarella, ripe tomato, and fresh basil with a drizzle of olive oil and sprinkle of salt. While you can certainly add pepper and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar, the most basic Caprese salad is still bursting with flavors that make it anything but basic. If you can find a local or homemade fresh mozzarella, even better – it makes all the difference in the final product.

While the standard Caprese salad uses thick slices of vine-ripe or heirloom tomatoes and fresh mozzarella with whole basil leaves, I personally like making a version that reminds me of a gumball machine. Fresh mozzarella balls get tossed with halved (or whole) grape or cherry tomatoes, chopped basil, and extra virgin olive oil to produce a Caprese salad that has a more even distribution of basil (basil in every bite, hurrah!) and can also be easily eaten with just a fork. Regardless of which way you make it, you’re in for a healthy salad that tastes as good as it looks.