Name: Caprese Salad
Prep time: 10 min
Total time: 10 min
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 2 pounds fresh & ripe fruit 1 big handful of fresh basil leaves 8 ounces fresh mozzarella Kosher salt Fresh ground pepper Good olive oil Homemade balsamic glaze (optional)

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Caprese salad is one of the simplest salads to make. Gather up your favorite fruit, fresh mozzarella, and a bunch of basil leaves and make yourself one of the most delightful treats while the season is right!

Nothing screams summer like a caprese salad. Sometimes the simplest recipes are the best. Fresh quality ingredients are always the key. I absolute love caprese salads and unfortunately only get to indulge a couple months out of the year but let me tell you, I do indulge!

The freshest of tomatoes can only be found for a short period of time, so I like to take advantage of some of my other favorite fruits while they’re at their peak season too. I’m also quite partial to lightly drizzling homemade balsamic glaze over these effortless salads. Oh, and lots and lots of basil for me, please!!

Traditional caprese salads are made with tomatoes, mozzarella (usually buffalo), basil leaves, olive oil, and salt and pepper. Supposably meant to represent the Italian flag with the red, white and green. Italians are geniuses when it comes to food, so it is no surprise they invented this sensational dish.

For this recipe you will need:

2 pounds fresh & ripe fruit
1 big handful of fresh basil leaves
8 ounces fresh mozzarella
Kosher salt
Fresh ground pepper
Good olive oil
Homemade balsamic glaze (optional)

Nutrition

There’s no way to give approximate nutritional information for this recipe, since the recipe does not call for any specific fruit. Tomatoes, cantaloupe, peaches and all other varieties of fruit contain a sizeable difference in calorie counts and grams of carbohydrates. No matter the choice of fruit chosen, the salad is a healthful choice.

How to make Caprese Salad

You can make the salad in one large bowl or layer onto separate plates.

If making in one large bowl, chiffonade the basil and set aside. Cut the mozzarella into bite size pieces and set aside. Chop the fruit into bite-size pieces and add the olive, salt and pepper. Be gentle when tossing together and do not bruise the fruit. Add the mozzarella and basil and lightly toss again.

To layer on to separate plates, cut the fruit into slices and place in a bowl with the olive oil, salt and pepper and lightly toss. Cut the mozzarella into slices. Lay down one slice of fruit, then place one or two basil leaves over the top and then a slice of mozzarella over the top of the basil. Repeat the process until you have a full plate. Drizzle with homemade balsamic glaze (optional).