Caprese Salad and Garden Update

I had such a late start to my garden this season. Spring was very cold and rainy.  I LOVED it, but seedlings don't appreciate the almost freezing night temps and the continuous rain.  A greenhouse would have been perfect!!  When I wrote my first garden blog, I told you I talk to my little guys. (I know - crazy right?) but I really do think it helps!   I would say to them, "take the cool while you can, the summer heat is on it's way and you might be sorry!"  Boy did the heat come, didn't it? For the most part, the plants are hanging in there and in most cases, they are thriving!

My grandson loves my garden.  He loves to pick and eat "matoes".  He knows exactly when they turn the perfect red.  Having him enjoy my garden with me is FAR MORE fulfilling that the actual garden!  He is my little gardening buddy.  Right now, he's waiting patiently for apples and melons!!
The flowers are beautiful and compliment the vegetables!!

Tree fruit did well.  I have harvested loquats, Peaches, Apricots and Cherries so far, with Nectarines and Apples just about ready.

The Boysen, Black and Blue berries are completely harvested.  The crop was great, but when the heat hit, it turned some of the Blackberries and boysenberries into "raisins" almost immediately. I was shocked at the speed in which that happened!!  I figure I lost a third of the second picking.  I thought Hmmm, I wonder if a "berry raisin is good?"  Ummm. The answer is NO!!  Dried up berries are NOT yummy...trust me on that one!  The blueberries LOVED the coolness and gave me a large crop this year (probably about 2 pints) but completely petered out when the massive heat hit.   Now I am waiting on Raspberries which are a bit later in the season.

The herbs are doing great!  Crops of Chive, Thyme, Oregano, Sage, Basil, Thai Basil, Rosemary, Parsley and Mint are finally doing well.  It took a lot of coaxing through the cold, but the results are beautifully worth it in my everyday cooking!  My two year old grandson is completely enamored with my herb garden.  He can name every herb and he loves eating the fresh leaves of each one!  He will pop basil in his mouth and say..."NUMMY!  BASIL!  His favorite?  MINT!!  Why?  because he says it tastes like "bubble" - his term for gum!  SOOO cute!! 

The plants in the Earthboxes are absolutely growing like they are on steroids.  They do every year!  If you are interested, look at Earthbox.com and check these boxes out.  I LOVE them and the plants they produce.  The Italian Sweet Marconi peppers are producing their first crop, the Tomatoes are abundant, healthy (and delicious!), my Indian and Thai Eggplants are FINALLY growing up - first fruits on their way, and the melons (honeydew and cantaloupe) are FINALLY climbing up the trellis, I encourage them every day!

The cucumbers are just starting to climb (boy...did they have trouble with the cool.  Super late start), the green beans are about ready for picking and I am waiting on the tomatillos.  I have NEVER had good luck growing tomatillos, but I am hopeful this year I wont just have a "lovely Plant" , but also fruits to go with it.

What do do with it all?  Well, the fruits are mostly eaten fresh (check out the grilled fruit recipe in June)  But the berries are frozen immediately  in order to make preserves, cobblers, sauces and smoothies.

All of this leads me to the caprese salad.  I grow quite a bit of basil.  I want pesto, fresh tomato sauces, and caprese salads  in the summer.

If you are lucky enough to grow your own tomatoes, this is obviously a dynamite way to use them.  If not, the markets are chock full of vine ripened or heirloom tomatoes.  I prefer heirloom tomatoes, for the flavor and I don't grow that variety - I am going to try again next year!  But in the heat of summer, a cool refreshing caprese salad with a tossed pasta dish is PERFECT for summer dinner.  I served My Caprese salad with some of the Butternut Pasta Sauce that I froze (see archives for post)  and tossed in cheese tortillini's.  The perfect wine?  Pinot Grigio.  It was a great meal.

Caprese Salad
Figure calories for the cheese and oil
Picture below is before oil and vinegar

FRESH mozzarella Cheese
Fresh vine ripened or heirloom Tomatoes
Fresh basil
Olive Oil
Balsamic vinegar
chunky finishing salt - optional

The quantities are up to you....how many tomatoes, how much cheese and basil depends on the number of servings.

Before we start, I want to talk about Mozzarella cheese.  There are many different varieties of mozzarella.  Fresh mozzarella is packed in water, for the most part.  This cheese is soft, fresh with a creamy texture.  It is nothing like the mozzarella ball you see for pizza that Progresso or other brands sell.  What I call pizza mozzarella should not be used for this salad, just my opinion.  I have had some pretty good Fresh mozzarella that was packed in a "ball form" labeled FRESH and it was very soft with a good texture - if you see that kind, I can recommend it or seek out the water packed variety.

Slice your tomatoes and mozzarella into rounds of about 1/4" thick and layer them on a flat plate.  Tomato, cheese, tomato, cheese, etc....

Thinly slice fresh basil (as much as you like) and put it on top of the tomatoes and cheese.  Drizzle olive oil and balsamic vinegar to taste and top with chunky finishing salt (I use pink Himalayan, but other chunky sea salts will be good also - Salt is optional.)

I used O'olive oil's Garlic infused and regular aged balsamic vinegar - absolutely delish!

The result?  A perfectly cooling, fresh and tangy salad with the unmistakable flavor of basil. The occasional crunch of great sea salt is texturally satisfying.  This is so unbelievably easy to throw together, but gorgeous in it's simplicity. This is the taste of summer at it's best. 

From my home to yours, ENJOY!

Roasted Tomato Breakfast Sandwhich

BREAKFAST!  Some people don't like breakfast (SAD really) 

ME??? I HAVE to have breakfast! Especially on the weekends.

As you might imagine a simple bowl of cereal does not "do it" for me.  I want the perfect breakfast bite that makes me happy, puts me in a good mood for the day (not an easy task - Tom, care to comment??) and gives me the that big breakfast feeling (without the BIG!)

Is there really anything better than a simple roasted tomato?  If you haven't had one, then I challenge you to make whole roasted roma tomatoes, as soon as possible.  I serve them with dinner next to couscous, basmati rice, kabobs, simple roasted chicken and potatoes.  I actually crave them, but, I love tomatoes regardless.  Fresh, roasted, sauteed, canned or on the grill.  Roasting these little guys changes everything...they get super sweet with that incredible roasted flavor and OH!!!  Those little sweet beautiful "burnt" edges of goodness??? YUMMY with ANYTHING!  I sometimes refer to them as "tomato candy"!  But roasting a whole tomato properly takes time.  Plus they stay too juicy in the center to use them in any sort of sandwich.

Making sliced roasted Romas:

Turn your broiler on to high and let it pre-heat.  Meanwhile get a large sheet of aluminum foil and/or line a baking pan. (I just use the foil)

For this recipe I used 2 large romas.  Slice them about a 1/4 inch thick and lay them on aluminum foil (you can spray the foil if you want - I do only sometimes)  Believe it or not Tomatoes can be hard to slice - use a sharp knife  or a serrated one. (we have already "talked" about my incredible knives. As knives go, they are sexy.....LOVE THEM.  OK - I am over it again)  Lay the tomatoes flat in one layer, sprinkle with salt and pepper and pop them under the broiler on a rack positioned 4-6 inches from the flame or infrared heat  (some may be lucky enough to have an infrared broiler....sadly, I am not that lucky person)

These take a bit more time than you would think because they are so wet.  You want them to dry a bit and brown/blacken - Once they are browned, turn the tomatoes over:

 

I use my fingers for this. DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME (like the disclaimer?) use a utensil so I don't get emails about how you burned the heck out your fingers.

Put them back in the broiler and remove when the other side is roasted and a bit dried:

***The other side of these tomatoes are pretty blackened so I didn't let this side get too black. - use these for lunch sandwiches, or any other place where you would use tomatoes (I sometime just eat them plain!)

TO MAKE 2 SANDWICHES:
6 WW PP if you use 1 point bread and 1 egg

4 pieces of bread (I use low fat/low cal 1 pt bread)
4 Triangles of Laughing Cow LIGHT cheese spread (any flavor)
2 or 3 eggs (for the men, they might want an extra egg- Tom did)
sliced roasted tomatoes
salt and pepper
Non-stick spray

Lay your bread out on a cutting board or the counter and Spread one triangle of cheese on EACH piece of bread.  Is this excessive?  I think NOT.  But you choose. If you like less then use less.  The melty creaminess is really spectacular.  Try not to skimp unless you are a cheese hater!!  Since I don't believe it's possible to hate cheese, lets just go with 2 light triangles. OK?

Now fry your eggs in a non-stick skillet with some spray.  I break the yolks a bit:

Ummm yeah...that third eggy? His yolk got broken at the last second because I wanted him a bit runny....

Flip the eggs over and fry until your desired doneness. (dont overcook -  they become rubbery)

Put the eggs on one side of the bread:

And Top with those GORGEOUS, DELICIOUS, SWEET, roasted tomatoes (OMG - you wont be able to stand it):

Cover with the top piece of bread.....heat your skillet (same on for the eggs...don't clean it) and spray the top of the bread with non-stick spray.  Put the sandwich in the pan, sprayed side down and cook until golden brown.  While that side is cooking...spray the top side of the sandwich.

Flip them and cook other side until golden brown:

While cooking slice up some melon, oranges or other fruit of your choice.

Serve the sandwich sliced on the diagonal (unless your a rebel - then cut it straight down the center) and serve.



The result?  A perfectly creamy, contemporary version of the grilled cheese and egg sandwich.  It meets my  criteria....the perfect breakfast bite that make me happy and puts me in a good mood for the day!  I hope it does the same for you.

From my home to yours, ENJOY!