The Official Beginning of Summer: TOMATOES are Ready!

The ripening of tomatoes marks the official beginning of summer in my household. We eat tomato, basil, and fresh mozzarella just about every day, in one form or another: in salads, in sandwiches, and in pasta. This dietary regime lasts from now until late October and we never get sick of it.

Caprese Salad: Summer on a Plate!

Tips:

Sprinkle sea salt and freshly ground black pepper onto all the tomato and mozzarella slices.

Drizzle on extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar reduction (see below for method).

Store tomatoes at room temperature, never in the refrigerator.

Prevent your basil plant from forming flowers by picking leaves often.

How to make balsamic reduction:

(http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/life/food/6956909.html)

...When making the glaze — also referred to as a reduction — use inexpensive balsamic vinegar.

Take a bottle of the vinegar, pour the contents into a saucepan and bring it to a boil. Lower the heat slightly and continue cooking the vinegar so it reduces down to a thick consistency. You need to keep an eye on the vinegar while it reduces. If it cooks down too quickly or too much, it can burn — and then you'd have to toss it and start over.

One bottle (16 to 17 ounces) should reduce to about a half cup. You don't have to reduce the entire bottle; you can reduce any amount. Once it's reduced, the flavor is concentrated, and the glaze should be just thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.

Small amounts of this sweet and tangy glaze — which is fat-free, by the way — go a long way. Keep it stored in a squeeze bottle in the refrigerator and use it to gussy up cooked meats, poultry, vegetables and even fruit. It's especially tasty drizzled on strawberries.