FFWD: Mozzarella, tomato & strawberry salad

'You know how I said I wanted to be buried in a casket full of risotto? Well, I've changed my mind. THIS is what I would like to be buried in.' - Mr. Leaven, Tuesday night

I made this salad Tuesday night. I would have liked to choose a better mozzarella, but Hubbell & Hudson Kitchen didn't have fresh mozzarella and their strawberries were lousy so I ended up picking up mozzarella at Kroger, where the strawberries were actually beautiful (you can never go wrong with Driscoll's). It's an incredibly simple salad (I find recipes for caprese salads so amusing - really, it's slices of mozzarella and tomato, basil on top and a drizzle of olive oil) and with good ingredients just incredibly delicious. I'm particularly drawn to it, since I've never gotten over my aversion to raw tomatoes and with the addition of strawberries I get to eat more than just mozzarella with basil and oil and a bit of tomato juice. We had a fabulous steak with the salad (Dorie says the salad serves 4. I say 'ha!').

I made this salad Wednesday night. This time, we added even more basil. It was even more incredible.

I may just make this salad every week (or twice a week) this summer, through strawberry and tomato season.

It's a lovely, respectful treatment of wonderful ingredients. Slice mozzarella (di bufala is recommended), slice strawberries and tomatoes and toss them with some salt, pepper, and a bit of olive oil, plate them, top with crushed pink peppercorns and shredded basil, and drizzle with olive oil. A touch of balsalmic vinegar can be added if needed. I drizzled some white balsalmic vinegar, because I love balsalmic vinegar - it probably wasn't essential.