This Cherry Tomato and Mozzarella Salad is probably one of the simplest dishes you can make. It’s a perfect side dish for dinner, or even a lunch. We first learned to make this with our friend and neighbor Stacy back in Chicago. Our favorite farmer at the Old Town farmer’s market had amazing golden orange tomatoes that tasted like candy. They were so good we would snack on them while we were shopping around the market. We were basically a walking ad for Gray Farms. People would ask us where to get them and we’d give them one to taste. We always made an effort to get to the market pretty early since there were only a few baskets of these gold gems.
Now that we’re in California, whenever we see similar tomatoes we grab some and make this salad. Every time we make Cherry Tomato and Mozzarella Salad, it reminds us of being in the kitchen with our friends in Chicago.
We always use ciliegine mozzarella because the size is a perfect match with the cherry tomatoes that we cut in half and de-seed. You don’t have to de-seed them, but it is the key to making the salad better. It can be a tedious process, and you may even want to put on some gloves like these. We’ve known our hands to stain after de-seeding so many of these. Taking the pulp and seeds out makes the salad less watery and keeps everything more crisp.
When we de-seed them we usually keep washed ones in a salad spinner, have a bowl for pulp, and have another bowl for the completed tomatoes. We always use a small utility knife to cut cherry tomatoes. Something larger is really overkill.
This is the perfect refreshing salad to enjoy in the last few days of summer! It’s a simple and delicious way to enjoy those ripe tomatoes.
- 1 pt cherry tomatoes, cut in half and seeded
- hand full of basil, chiffonaded
- 16 oz ciliegine mozzarella, cut in half
- olive oil
- balsamic vinegar
- salt
- In a bowl, gently toss the tomatoes and ciliegine with enough olive oil and balsamic vinegar to coat.
- Add basil and a pinch of salt to taste, toss, and serve immediately.