Bruce Tretter Presents...Tomato, Fresh Basil & Mozzarella Cheese Salad

With such great, fresh ingredients like those you see below, there’s no need to top this salad with a lot of dressing, though a good shot of balsamic vinegar, with its evenly balanced and full-on sweet & sour flavor adds a great shot of zest!

Preparation Time: 5-10 minutes

Ingredients

(for 2)

1 Large Tomato

Handful of Fresh Basil

Mozzarella Cheese

Balsamic Vinegar (optional but adds zest)

Olive Oil

Salt

Ground Black Pepper

Equipment

Cutting Board

Sharp (Chef’s) Knife

Plate

1. Rinse and shake dry 1 large tomato and a handful of fresh basil.

2. Carefully use a sharp knife to make a cone-shaped cut at the top of the tomato to remove the tough, fibrous stem patch. Cut the tomato into slices 1/4-1/2 inch (6-12 mm) wide.

3. Pinch the basil leaves from their stems with your thumb and forefinger. Then bunch and hold the basil to the cutting board with curled fingers, and cut the leaves into pieces 1/8 - 1/4 inch (3-6 mm) wide. Finish by chopping the basil coarsely into smaller pieces.

4. Cut the mozzarella cheese into slices about 1/4 inch (6 mm) wide.

5. Assemble the salad by layering a tomato slice with sliced mozzarella and chopped basil and repeating until you’ve used all the ingredients.

6. Finish with light drizzle of olive oil, a light dusting of both salt and ground black pepper, and an optional but fully flavorful shot of balsamic vinegar.

You can get complete easy to follow step-by-step picture book directions by going to the Gotta’ Eat, Can’t Cook website at www.gotta-eat.com. Just hover over the “Salad and salad dressings” tab on the banner in the middle of the homepage. Then click the picture of “Tomato Salads” and click the picture of “Tomato, Fresh Basil & Mozzarella Cheese Salad” to download the step-by-step picture book recipe all entirely for free.