Easy Caprese Salad with Balsamic Vinegar

Normally I am not a huge cheese fan unless it is tomato caprese. The other night while trying to figure out what to eat for dinner at the end of a long day, we drove by Lazy Dog Cafe and decided to stop since it was something new to us. Food was okay, and service was good. I was quite in adoration with the caprese salad we ordered as first course. I just loved the balsamic reduction and the walnut basil pesto that accompanied the salad. It was so good I almost wanted to lick the plate. But, that would be rude uh.....

As temperature is hitting the roof, I just couldn't eat anything hot. Instead, I made myself a caprese salad from my home grown cherry tomato and basil in the garden. It is one of the tastiest and easiest salad to make at home. It is almost a crowd favorite.

How To:
-Use tomato of choice. With large tomatoes, slice into at least 1/4 inch thickness. I used cherry tomatoes so I halved each to make bite size chunks.
-Use fresh mozzarella cheese. Slice or cut into bite size pieces to complement tomato.
-Mix together 1 tablespoon good balsamic vinegar and 3 table spoon good extra virgin olive oil. Basically ratio is 1:3 of vinegar to oil. Adjust to your own liking. I put both into a container so I can shake the mixture together well.
-Arrange mozzarella cheese and tomato on a platter, sprinkle julienne basil over top.
-Drizzle balsamic reduction over tomato and cheese and around the platter for presentation.
-Salt and pepper to taste. I prefer good sea salt.

I can't wait to try with walnut and basil pesto next time. I think the nutty flavor adds depth to this easy salad. Do you like caprese salad??