Today is Monday (in case you did not know this already) and if your first day of the week is anything like mine it generally begins with a giant mug of coffee and ends in an equally giant glass of alcohol. I am also less inclined on Mondays to make myself a dinner with any remote difficulty to it. In walks my Caprese salad! ***the crowd goes wild**** It is sexy, cool, and oh so ready to be thrown together and devoured in 30 seconds. Although, it is delicious enough that if you have self restraint (I, sadly, do not) I would savor each flavorful bite. Let’s get right to it then!
JUST KIDDING! I will share the recipe in due time, but first I want you to meet one of my best friends! His name is Zeus and he is just too awesome not be formally introduced. Below I threw together a few of his baby pictures as well as some more recent ones. You might as well get to know him now, you will see him over and over if you read this girl’s blog. He rocks!
Back to the Food!
Servings: 1: you can obviously double, triple, quadruple, etc. for however many people are eating. For the general vibe of this post…I am preparing this dish for Me, Myself, and I. Party of 1. Numero uno. I wait for no one! In this case I would be potentially waiting for my fiance….he can have canned soup! <–See what Mondays do to me?? Eeash….anyways, back to the recipe.
What you’ll need:
1 tomato
1/2 avacado
1/4 balsamic vinegar
1 tbs organic maple syrup
1 garlic clove, minced (or in my case tonight, 1/2 of a giant clove….sh#! was huge!)
Optional: salt and pepper
I bought the tomatoes pictured above from my local farmer’s market. These two came from City Roots Farm, which happens to be in my neighborhood. Talk about local!
How to make:
Pull out a small sauce pan and add your balsamic vinegar and garlic. Bring to a low simmer and stir often for about 15 minutes. Keep an eye on it because you do not want it to scorch. T he goal is to reduce the mixture to a nice glaze. I say “goal” because..well, just check out my disclaimer at the end of the post. Moving on, while this is simmering, slice your tomato and avocado. Add salt and pepper if you desire. I find the reduction is plenty of flavor and do not use any extra seasoning. Once the balsamic vinegar has reduced,set it aside to cool off to room temperature. I actually got impatient and stuck the whole pot in the freezer…I am not sure that is necessarily a good idea though… Anyways, once the reduction is cooled, add the maple syrup and stir well. Drizzle on top of your tomato and avocado. Voila! Monday night dinner!
Picture Disclaimer: I did not reduce my vinegar enough tonight as you will see in the photos. As I have expressed, I am a slightly more manic, impatient person on the first day of the week. The balsamic should be much thicker. It tasted delicious but certainly did not photograph as well. Just wanted to let you know that this is not technically how it should look. But hey! At least you know it will still be tasty if you mess up a bit!
Kenny says
That canned soup was delicious!
Ashley Hinkel says
I did a make-shift, numero uno, caprese salad after yoga tonight. Wish I would of had this recipe! Love the new blog, Jenn! Keep ’em coming! XOXO
Nikki says
I had tomato and avocado for dinner last night too! Just seasoned with salt and pepper since I’m not very creative in the kitchen but I’ll definitely try this next time!
P.s. Your dog is super cute