I’m not sure I should call this a recipe, because I think you should make it to taste.  I call this my Ugly Caprese Salad because I was too hungry to make it pretty for the picture.  This was actually the best caprese salad I ever had!

You’ll need:

• Good, ripe tomatoes
• Good fresh mozzarella
• Fresh basil (not optional)
• Balsamic vinegar
• Salt
• Extra virgin olive oil (optional)

1. Slice tomatoes however you’d like them.  I like them in 1/4 inch thick rounds.
2. Sprinkle tomatoes with a little salt.
3. Slice mozzarella about the same thickness you sliced your tomatoes.
4. Chiffonade (roll the leaves up like cigars and slice thinly) basil.
5. Arrange all three on the plate however you’d like.  Traditionally the tomato and mozzarella slices are stacked, i.e. tomato, mozzarella, tomato, and so on.
6. Sprinkle on balsamic vinegar.  If your bottle is anything like mine, be careful–I basically dumped a bunch of vinegar onto my salad because it came out of the bottle too quickly.  Luckily, I really like balsamic!
7. Sprinkle on a little olive oil if you’d like.  I did not, but after I inhaled my salad I thought that a bit of olive oil would take it over the top.

This can be made as a one-woman salad or a family meal, but it should be served immediately.  If you want to test out the salt, basil, balsamic, olive oil ratio before making a big one of these as a meal or side dish, make yourself a little plate of it first and adjust as needed.  Enjoy!