Hmmm…I’m starting to get a little confused. Only January 19th, yet I’m totally getting into Spring mode. First I take Carys out for some new clothes (she’s outgrowing most of her stuff, plus it IS the little lady’s birthday on Sunday, so why not?) and come home with a bag of positively happy, spring-like apparel. The cashier who rang us up commented on how cute everything was, and how Carys was now set with her Spring wardrobe. Later driving home, guess what temp the car was claiming was outside? A very mild 11 degrees Celsius! (no clue what that is in Fahrenheit, please don’t ask me to convert it…isn’t that what Google is for?

Anyhow, let’s all hope I’m not jinxing the weather or we’ll all wake up to snow outside tomorrow morning…eek. All this rambling is an attempt to explain our rather summery dinner tonight. Roast chicken with lemon and thyme, roast beets, and a tomato and bocconcini salad. This is a wonderful summer meal, one you’re supposed to enjoy on a gorgeous sunny day…picking fresh tomatoes and basil from your garden, etc etc. Regardless, we found some decent on the vine tomatoes and fresh basil at the store when grocery shopping this morning, and they made a pretty amazing salad. So, I had to share our (very very simple) recipe for a fresh tomato and bocconcini salad. Make it tomorrow night and cross your fingers that this mild weather holds!

Tomato and Bocconcini Salad

5 or 6 ripe tomatoes (roma or on the vine ones are much more flavourful than beefsteak or any of the larger ones)

1 container of bocconcini (fresh mozzarella)

bunch of fresh basil

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1 small clove minced garlic

1 teaspoon sugar

1 1/2 tablespoons Dijon mustard (I prefer the grainy type)

salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Slice tomatoes and bocconcini into discs. Arrange however you please  in your dish (get as creative as you like!). This is how I like to do mine:

Next, make a chiffonade of the basil. Chiffo-WHAT you ask? If you have no clue what I’m talking about, you can watch this handy YouTube demo below (though note that it totally pronounces chiffondade wrong, but I digress…), OR chop the basil however you like, and sprinkle over the top of your arrangement of tomato and bocconcini.

Chiffonade How-To
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJEQFgfv7iw&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&border=1]

Finally, make the dressing. Simply whisk the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic, sugar, Dijon, salt, and pepper together, and drizzle over your salad. Serve immediately.

Cheers,