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Recipe: Caprese Salad (who knew it was this damn easy?!)

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ByFoodHussy Hours Updated
When I was a kid – we had a huge garden. It was like half the size of a football field – it was ridiculous. My “job” was to weed it – every day – all summer – for 10 years. God I hated that f’ing garden. Did I love the fresh tomatoes? Yes – but I hated weeding it. 
Now – I’m 40(ish). I miss fresh tomatoes. So I have my own version of a garden. It’s 3 pots – on my front step. Baby steps. 
There’s one pot with tomatoes – they’re getting pretty big – and these two happy little pots with basil and cilantro. I’m pretty psyched that they started from these little pre-seeded pods for $1 each at Walmart. You stick them in a pot and water them. That’s it. I figured if they didn’t grow – I was only out a few bucks – but they grew! Look at that beautiful basil. It was so bright and pretty – I thought – well hell – now I need something to make with it! 
I thought of Caprese Salad. It’s so delicious and refreshing – and I thought – well hell – it’s pretty easy to make too! Now, my tomatoes are nowhere near ready so I had to buy some at a store – but the basil got me well on the way. 

A photo posted by Heather Johnson (@foodhussy) on

This was so super simple – it’s basil, tomato, fresh mozzarella, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt & pepper – that’s it. Layer the basil, tomato, mozz – then sprinkle with the rest. I thought – can it really be this easy? Why have I not done this before?

Well it was that easy. It was so easy – I did it again!

This time – my tomato wasn’t as pretty and I was eating it alone – so I didn’t need as much. I decided to cut everything in bite size pieces and make more of a salad out of it. Chop chop chop – sprinkle sprinkle sprinkle. Caprese salad – done. From pot on my porch to in my belly in about 5 minutes. And it’s so beautiful – how can it not be good for you???

So here’s the “recipe” – it’s so simple – I can barely call it a recipe – but hey – if it gets you to make it for yourself – here you go!






Caprese Salad

* 1 tomato
* 1 ball of fresh mozzarella
* 5-10 leaves of fresh basil
* salt
* pepper
* olive oil
* balsamic vinegar

Slice your tomato and mozzarella. Alternately layer decoratively on a serving plate. Tuck the whole basil leaves in between the layers. Crack black pepper and salt generously over your dish (I like a lot of salt). Pour the olive oil into the cap and drizzle over the layered plate of goodness. Do that a couple of times. Pop open the Balsamic Vinegar and splash it over the top – as generous as you feel like.

You really can’t go wrong. Go light on the Balsamic if you’re new to using it – go heavy if you’re addicted like me.

And be sure to post your beautiful pics to Instagram and tag me – I want to be reminded that I need to make it again. Tomorrow. And the next day. And the next day. And the next day after that.

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