A brightly colored Heirloom Tomato and Mozzarella Salad with a Homemade Balsamic Vinaigrette is the perfect way to celebrate and enjoy Summer's fresh produce!
When I lived in Paris my favorite quick, weekday dinner was an heirloom tomato and mozzarella salad. By the time I got home from work, I was famished and too tired to tackle a more elaborate meal in my miniscule kitchen. Take the size of the tiniest New York City kitchen you can imagine, divide that in half, and you have the size of the kitchen in my Paris apartment. I loved it, but it didn’t afford much space for prep work! This heirloom tomato and mozzarella salad comes together in a minute flat; it is fresh and flavorful. Summery perfection!
Now that I have a slightly larger kitchen, this salad is still a wonderful fresh summer appetizer. I use my favorite balsamic vinaigrette dressing to pull it all together. This dressing is amazing by itself but you can also add fresh chopped herbs to turn it into something magical.
Heirloom Tomato and Mozzarella Salad
Ingredients
For the Salad:
- 4 heirloom tomatoes (sliced)
- 4 oz mozzarella cheese (sliced)
- 1 Avocado (sliced)
- basil (sliced)
- Arugula (optional)
For the Balsamic Vinaigrette:
- ½ cup balsamic vinegar (the higher quality, the better your dressing will taste)
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- ½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar (not packed)
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt (to taste)
- black pepper (to taste)
Instructions
Make the Vinaigrette:
- Mix it all ingredients together and shake or whisk. Because of the mustard, you don’t need to worry about slowly pouring in the oil and whisking. I call this version light because the ratio of oil : vinegar is reverse the usual ratio.
Assemble the Salad:
- Arranges alternating slices of tomatoes and mozzarella cheese on a platter. Sprinkle with basil or slide them between the layers.
- Drizzle with the dressing and serve.
A new version of caprese salad, look forward to trying yours.
Extra virgin olive oil
Oh! You were telling me what EVOO meant. Wow. I am like 3 days late to the party. Thanks! I swear I'm smarter in real life 🙂
OMG at my work (a French Restaurant), we serve something very similar to this. I love heirloom tomatoes. I just love the combined taste of heirloom tomatoes, basil, and mozzarella. Sometimes I like to add some arugula to it too...and some Saba and EVOO.
What is EVOO? It sounds intriguing!
Extra virgin olive oil...lol btw have you ever heard about a recent study about how sniffing EVOO helps one lose weight? I thought it was kind of funny. I blogged about it. https://www.behgopa.com/2013/03/sniffing-your-way-to-weight-loss-with.html
After a few sniffs, I started getting a headache. I don't think it's something I can keep up long term. I still wonder how often and for how long one should be sniffing EVOO for the method to be effective.
It never occurred to me that one would need to abreviate Extra Virgin Olive Oil. I read your post. It sounds ridiculous to me! That's like the studies in the 90's that said that sniffing peppermint would curb your appetite. I tried, and it just made me more hungry.
I guess it's just back to basics - diet & exercise...