Cultivated, Colorful and Casual: Caprese Salad

What is summer without a Salad made with sun ripened tomatoes? While at a gourmet food store I picked up a "Made in India", Bocconcini. This fresh Buffalo Mozzarella cheese is made in Haryana and let me tell you it was impressive!

The beauty of this dish is from the creamy cheese, flavor of the tomato and basil and a drizzle of balsamic reduction....oh its Caprese heaven for sure.

Caprese Salad

Ingredients

2-4 large ripe tomatoes

100 gms Bocconcini

10-12 fresh basil leaves

4 tbsp balsamic reduction (cook 3/4 cup balsamic vinegar down till it becomes syrupy)

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Method

Slice tomatoes into thick slices place a basil leaf on the tomato, top with sliced boconcini and drizzle with mixture of balsamic reduction and olive oil. Serve at room temperature. Sprinkle salt and pepper just before serving.

Bowled over by Soup : Vegetarian Tom yum Thai

We had a hailstorm here in the middle of summer, bringing down the temperature drastically. What else is better on a cool night than a bowl of hot soup? I set the stock base simmering while I chopped all the vegetables, when my son came home, the whiff of the aroma hit the minute I opened the door and he was hungry instantly!

I love Thai cuisine just because it is such an interesting mix of herbs and spices along with the melange of vegetables making it a very healthy cuisine. 

The key to Thai cooking are its ingredients. I often have a jar of a basic Thai paste in my fridge. It is essentially a mix of Galangal, lemon grass, kafir lime leaves, fresh red chillies, green coriander stalks and lemon juice. I grind everything to as fine a paste as possible, and freeze in ice cube trays. I later store the cubes in zip top bags and use the cubes as required. Please use a separate ice cube tray or your regular ice cubes will taste of the paste.

Vegetarian Tom Yum Soup

Ingredients

4 cups water/ homemade vegetable stock

2 tbsp thick tamarind extract

2/3 tbsp of my homemade Thai paste or Tom yum soup paste

1-2 cups chopped Vegetables of you choice ( mine are zucchini, baby corn, mushroom, cabbage, red chillies and spring onions)

4-6 kaffir lime leaves

Few stalks of coriander leaf ( leaf removed, only stem)

10 basil leaves

Salt to taste

Method

Heat water add, tamarind extract, salt, Thai paste, kafir lime leaves, coriander stalks and bring to a boil. When you get a wonderful soupy aroma ( about 5-8 minutes) add the vegetables and cook further for a few minutes. Remove from heat and serve immediately with a few leaves of basil. Suwadee