BlogHer - If You Have Ripe Tomatoes and Fresh Basil, It's Time for Caprese Salad - Comments

One of my favorites too!

Kalyn Denny — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 17:49:13 -0500

That must be why it's such a classic, it's just so delicious.

Caprese is my favorite salad

Andrea Meyers — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 15:03:45 -0500

It's so easy and so good. Using the best and freshest ingredients makes all the difference. And I can enjoy it while doing SB! Thanks for mentioning my pizza. :-)

~Andrea,
Andrea's Recipes

Use the best ingredients you can get

Kalyn Denny — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 08:05:56 -0500

I think in a recipe this simple it's important to use the very best ingredients. That means the ripest tomatoes, the freshest basil, and good quality extra virgin olive oil. Also, it's not traditional but I've seen some recipes for this where just the tiniest drizzle of balsamic vinegar is added, you might try that.

Kalyn Denny
Kalyn's Kitchen

Glad you like it

Kalyn Denny — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 08:03:16 -0500

Too much basil and too many tomatoes is what my mother used to call "a good problem to have." I'll be sharing some ideas for using that surplus of tomatoes soon, probably next week.

Kalyn Denny
Kalyn's Kitchen

So yummy!

ecneics — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 05:19:48 -0500

I'm an extreme cheese lover and I saw this at Ikea in the food court and didn't get it. Then I went back and it wasn't there. Tonight I tried to make it, thinking what could be more simple. Well, I guess I didn't wait long enough for the flavors to meld because all I could taste was the oil. I plan on trying this again now that I actually know what the salad is called.

Dinner Tomorrow!

Kathy333 — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 00:19:57 -0500

Our basil and tomatoes are taking over! This is perfect, thanks for sharing :0) They look so yummy I've figured out tomorrow night's salad!

Kathy

Mama Marathoner

Allbusiness:Working Mothers

If You Have Ripe Tomatoes and Fresh Basil, It's Time for Caprese Salad

Kalyn Denny — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 21:02:12 -0500

Caprese salad or Insalata Caprese is famous enough to have its own Wikipedia entry, and serious food lovers wait all year for fresh tomato season so they can make this salad, literally translated as "Salad in the style of Capri." Of course the traditional salad trio of tomatoes, buffalo mozarella, and fresh basil leaves is just a starting point for Caprese Salad lovers.

If you have a garden that's producing tomatoes and fresh basil, in no particular order here are five variations on Caprese Salad, including a couple you may not have thought of.

For those who may not be familiar with it, let's start with Classic Caprese Salad from Pam at Sidewalk Shoes. Pam's salad is pictured above, and and although she says she always wonders whether the order should be tomato-basil-mozarella or tomato-mozarella-basil, but this salad looks perfect to me.

Nate and Annie at House of Annie add some brilliant yellow tomatoes to their gorgeous Heirloom Tomato Caprese Salad. (pictured above)

The Cookmobile has the brilliant idea of putting Caprese Salad ingredients inside some fresh Ciabatta buns for a Caprese Salad Sandwich. (pictured above)

The Jew and the Carrot adds a liberal amount of a Middle Eastern seasoning called Za'atar to her salad, which turns it into Israeli Caprese Salad. (pictured above)

Finally, not technically a salad but definitely having the Caprese Salad vibe, Andrea of Andrea's Recipes uses the tomato, basil, and mozarella combination on pizza and of course it's called Pizza Caprese. (pictured above)

If you still have more tomatoes and fresh basil after you've tried these recipes, you can find even more Caprese Salad recipes on Food Blog Search.

Kalyn Denny writes about food and at BlogHer.com and shares her passion for cooking at Kalyn's Kitchen. One of her favorite Caprese Salad variations was created by her brother Rand, who made Caprese Salad with Apricots when Kalyn was visiting her in Venice Beach.