We have sung praise and joy many times about the abundance of fresh fruit, veggies, and delights we have year-round in California. One thing we have had to adapt to since moving away is the idea of seasonal cooking. We're not saying we didn't cook seasonally back home, but we took advantage of the fact we could always find decent ripe tomatoes and other produce year-round. In Virginia, the tomato season is a HUGE deal. When the first Hanover tomatoes hit the grocery store and farmers markets, people practically run to buy them, and every restaurant's specials list includes some type of tomato dish. We took advantage of the tomato season this summer. With that wrapping up, we wanted to share our favorite recipe highlighting our beloved savory fruit: the Caprese Salad, with some tips and tricks to recreate this dish year-round. We recommend pairing Caprese Salad with unoaked or lightly oaked Chardonnay or nice crisp Sauvignon Blanc.

xxx Ivy & Eve

Tips:

Oil & Vinegar:

Since this recipe is so simple, it's the perfect excuse to use your best olive oil and vinegar. We love playing with different oil and vinegar combinations from our favorite hometown producer of oils and vinegar: Quail & Olive. Some of our favorite combinations right now are Basil olive oil with Winter Ambrosia vinegar and Tuscan Blend olive oil with either Mission Fig or Raspberry Basil vinegar.

We use another of our favorite olive oils from Holman Ranch, which happens to make some of our favorite Pinot Noirs too!

Seasoning:

This is also a perfect recipe to use fancy salts and fresh cracked pepper or swap them with those fancy seasonings you might have lurking in our spice drawer. We've been loving Clif Family's spice blends, Everything Spice Blend and Porchetta Spice Blend. For salt, we use Maldon or Hawk Head Whisky Smoked Chili Salt that we picked up the last time we were in Scotland.

Dressings:

Another fun way to dress your Caprese salad is to use a bottled dressing. We tend to use lighter, vinaigrette type dressings, and our absolute favorite is French Poodle Vinaigrette. The recipe originated from Cote d'Azur in 1870 and made its way to our hometown in 1961 when Marienette and Jean Beacham opened The French Poodle restaurant in Carmel, CA. The recipe remains a secret, and now you can buy it online or in select shops.

Seasonal Produce:

When tomatoes are out of season, we love to play with different produce. Here are a few of our favorite combinations:

Spring/Summer:

Traditional Caprese - Tomato + Mozzarella + Holman Ranch Olive Oil + good balsamic
Nectarine or Peach + Burrata + Tarragon (Previously featured here)

Fall/Winter:

Roasted Tomato + Burrata or Mozzarella torn into small chunks (we roast cherry tomatoes with fresh thyme tossed in olive oil at 400F for about 40 minutes)
Persimmon + Mozzarella + Quail & Olive Basil Olive Oil + Quail & Olive Winter Ambrosia Vinegar

Make it a Meal:

When we're serving this as a main dish and want to make it more substantial, we like to serve it on a bed of arugula, add shredded rotisserie chicken, and double the oil and vinegar. It would also be delicious with some homemade croutons to soak up a bit of the dressing!

Here is our tried and true recipe for a classic (but delicious) Caprese Salad. Feel free to add or sub any of the ingredients with your own favorites!

Serves 2.

Ingredients:

2-3 medium ripe tomatoes, sliced 1/4-inch thick
1 ball of fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced into 1/4-inch-thick rounds
A handful of fresh basil leaves
Flaky salt
Freshly cracked pepper
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon good quality balsamic vinegar (this is the time to break out the good stuff)

Directions:

On two salad plates (or one large serving dish if serving family-style), arrange the tomato and mozzarella slices in an alternating pattern.
Tear and scatter basil leaves on top of the tomatoes and mozzarella.
Season with fresh cracked pepper and flaky salt.
Drizzle with olive oil first, then balsamic vinegar.
Enjoy!