Photo: Leigh Loftus
When I saw this recipe for cubed, hacked caprese salad on Smitten Kitchen I knew that I would be making it that night. I was planning on making homemade pizza for dinner with friends (as you all know I like to do sometimes), and thought this salad would be a perfect partner in crime. I printed out the recipe, tucked it into my purse, bought fresh mozzarella and fat, ripe, red Jersey tomatoes on the way home from work and threw it together to nosh on while we were waiting for the pizza to cook.
Caprese salad, and I mean good caprese salad, is one of my favorite Italian-inspired dishes. No, it doesn’t hold a candle to my baked penne with sausage and spinach or my spinach pumpkin linguine (what can I say? I like spinach). But when you have caprese salad made with excellent mozzarella cheese, you only need a little bit and when you have fresh-from-the-vine tomatoes you can let them star as the lead ingredient.
This salad has both perfect mozzarella and exemplary tomatoes. It also uses white beans, which I love for their addition of healthy fiber and protein to an otherwise indulgent dish and fresh (or store-bought) pesto sauce for its light basil flavor, reminiscent of Indian summer.
- ¾ to 1 pound fresh mozzarella, diced into ½-inch cubes
- 1 pound peak-season tomatoes, diced into ½-inch cubes
- 1 15-ounce can white beans, drained and rinsed
- ¼ cup pesto (or a handful of slivered basil plus ¼ cup olive oil)
- 3 to 4 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Mix all ingredients. Season with salt and pepper and then reseason again to adjust to your taste. Eat at once or keep it in the fridge up to a few days. Shelf life depends on how fresh your mozzarella is.
17 Comments
Louise
September 19, 2009 at 6:14 pmWonderful post Maris. I missed this recipe at the Smitten Kitchen. Thank you so much for bringing it to my attention. I too like the carefully chosen additions. Very nice indeed!
Karine
September 19, 2009 at 11:27 amI saw that recipe too and I also thought I looked so good! Yours looks delicious too. Thanks for sharing!
Eralda
September 17, 2009 at 9:11 pmLove the addition of beans and pesto to the traditional caprese ingredients. Sounds so fresh and delicious. Perfect for a weeknight meal.
Cate O'Malley
September 16, 2009 at 9:22 pmI have pesto and beans on hand … think I’ll have to pick up the other ingredients and give this a whirl this weekend – sounds delicious!
Bill
September 16, 2009 at 12:32 pmExcellent! I made this when I saw it on Smitten Kitchen too. It really is delicious.
– Bill
Southern Grace Gourmet
September 16, 2009 at 1:01 pmLooks delicious. I love salads that incorporate beans, they are healthy and tasty! and thanks for coming by my site, so I could find yours! Great Site!
Christina
September 16, 2009 at 10:53 amYum, I love caprese! It looks great.
Sophie
September 16, 2009 at 7:35 amWhat an easy yet so flavourfull salad!
Yum!
elra
September 15, 2009 at 1:45 pmLove the vibrant color on this salad. I am sure it delicious too!
thatShortChick
September 15, 2009 at 1:09 pmthis reminds of when my mom recently made a caprese lasagna (courtesy of a recipe from Rachael Ray) and it was surprisingly good (I’m not really a fan of lasagna).
this salad looks much better though!
Cecile
September 15, 2009 at 12:09 pmAnother recipe that gets copied and filed with the rest of my faves. Keep them coming!
brandi
September 15, 2009 at 10:43 amI love white beans with tomatoes, and this just looks perfect!
Daryl Callahan
September 15, 2009 at 10:05 amI am going to try the buratta. The above post has enticed me to try it. There is a really neat Italian shop near me that I have wanted to try and tonight will be the night!
kat
September 15, 2009 at 9:02 amlove the addition of white beans!
mandy
September 15, 2009 at 7:49 amThis is one of my favorite summer dishes.
Daryl
September 15, 2009 at 5:20 amLooks beautiful and I can attest to the fact that it was
Maggie
September 15, 2009 at 12:51 amIf you are a caprese junkie, might I ask if you’ve discovered buratta yet? If not, run, do not walk, to your nearest Italian market or gourmet cheese shop and find some. It’s the champagne of mozarella, and you will never go back once you’ve tried it! I promise. You can trust me because I lived in Italy for 4 months… 🙂