What’s better then tomatoes from the garden and fresh corn on the cob?! Not a whole heck of a lot, but this salad just might be! Combining your classic caprese salad with a summer twist makes this an instant summer favorite in your family! The balsamic dressing is also thebomb.com, as it reduces the balsamic with some honey and crushed garlic cloves. Simple, yet delicious! The corn adds a nice crunch and sweetness to the salad too! And I mean, who doesn’t love fresh mozzarella, right? I had to fight my husband off of the set because he wouldn’t stop eating it.
The corn and tomatoes can easily be done on the grill, as well as the stove like we did (it was pouring so no grill time). You char the fresh corn and tomatoes on the vine. You can also mix this up and use any of your favorite garden fresh tomatoes, the tomato world is your oyster! I would recommend using a grill pan for the tomatoes if you’re grilling, just so they don’t fall through the grates! But grab some fresh summer ingredients and whip up this yummy salad!
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup of balsamic vinegar
- 2 T of honey
- 2 whole cloves of garlic, crush with the flat side of a knife
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1/8 cup of olive oil (plus 2 T for pan)
- 5 cups of your favorite mixed greens (we like arugula and romaine)
- 2 ears of fresh corn, grilled, and kernels cut off cob
- 2 cups of your favorite tomatoes, charred in pan or grilled
- 1 cup of mozzarella, cubed (we get the big sliced log and cube from there)
- 1/2 cup of fresh basil, roughly torn into bite sized pieces
Instructions:
For the Honey Garlic Balsamic Dressing:
In a small pan, pour in balsamic vinegar, honey, 2 smashed garlic cloves, and salt and pepper. Cook on high heat until boiling, then lower to simmer and reduce until it’s half of it’s original volume. Remove from heat. Allow to cool to room temp, remove garlic cloves and mix in olive oil. Note, this will thicken as it cools. **Note: This will make your kitchen smell like vinegar. While great, it’s also very strong, I’d advise doing this with your vent on!
For the Caprese Summer Salad:
On the grill, or stove top, drizzle pan with olive oil and char corn and tomatoes evenly. The trick for the tomatoes is to just to pull the off the heat right as the tomato skin starts to crack (you don’t want them to get too soft). Corn should have some char evenly over it’s kernels. When corn is cool enough to touch, cut kernels off corn cobs. Assemble salad on a large serving plate. Place greens, then corn, cubed mozzarella, tomatoes, and top with torn basil and drizzle dressing over salad. Mix salad so everything is coated evenly, serve, and enjoy!
