Cherry Tomato and Mozzarella Salad

Author Notes

We just can’t get enough tomatoes this summer.

Big, red beefsteak tomatoes, oblong juicy grape tomatoes, sturdy romas and ugly heirlooms – we’ve had them all. We had the most delicious yellow tomatoes from a friend’s garden. Mild-flavored and juicy, with a bit of salt, oil and basil they were perfect. I thought for a moment that these would be our favorite tomatoes of the summer.

But then we saw these eye-catching little cherry tomatoes in a variety of summer colors at the Minneapolis farmers market, and all bets were off. “They are too pretty to eat,” stated the woman next to us.

The mixed-variety basket was fun to photograph – red, yellow, black, orange and green cherry tomatoes, and yellow, red and orange pear tomatoes.

We added little ciliegine di mozzarella (small, bite-sized mozzarella), basil, salt, and ground black pepper. Dressed in olive oil, it became a quintessential summer salad. And to the woman at the farmers market – we had no problem at all eating it. —DueSpaghetti