I have tried my first Insalata Caprese when we were camping in Austin this year.
I got a container of fresh mozzarella balls, fresh basil and a bottle of 10-Year Gran Riserva Balsamico by Lucini Italia (I highly recommend it!) from Whole Foods. I also bought some vine ripen tomato from a local farmers market to make my first Insalata Caprese. mmm… I loved it!
Four months later, I am craving it again… I stopped by North Market in Columbus, Ohio. There were lots of local farmers selling heirloom tomatoes and fresh basil, so I got some Green Zebra tomatoes (often called an heirloom, but it is not) and a few other varieties.
While we were in North Market, Jeremy also purchased a quarter pound of a beautifully aged, 9-year cheddar cheese from Mike, the owner of Curds and Whey. I could not resist the thought of putting a little bit of it in my Insalata Caprese.
When we were in Arizona earlier this year, we visited the Queen Creek Olive Mill – a family owned extra virgin olive oil mill in Arizona, USA! We loved all of their extra virgin olive oils~ One of my favorites is the Mexican Lime Olive Oil. I am also going to try that for my Insalata Caprese this time.
Oh, I know… I am going crazy here… adding all sorts of goodies to make my own Explosive Insalata Caprese.
Then I decided to add some chopped fresh roasted ginger cashew and fresh roasted curried almond to this. Plus some reindeer salami we bought in Alaska. The last item was Cherry Wood Smoked Mozzarella by Maplebrook Farm in Bennington, Vermont (purchased from Whole Foods here in Columbus.)
A dash of sea salt and fresh ground pepper… ah, I am in heaven. The result was an explosion of flavors.
