Fresh Mozzarella and Tomato Salad

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Trader Joe's Ciliegine-Fresh Mozzarella Cheese

Trader Joe's Ciliegine-Fresh Mozzarella Cheese

Here is another yummy salad that you might not have enjoyed before: fresh mozzarella & tomato salad.

We love to make this tasty salad combination when those big, ripe, juicy tomatoes start to show up at Trader Joe’s. The fresh creamy mozzarella cheese is a wonderful contrast to the tomatoes and the salad dressing

We first had this salad as a large appetizer –the kind that you share in a group. There were large slices of the cheese (baseball size) and between each slice was a thick slice of ripe juicy tomato. They were arranged in a circle on a plate, sprinkled with fresh basil leaves, salt and pepper and drizzled with olive oil.

The dish was just fantastic! Not only did it look wonderful and inviting, but the flavors were unforgettable as well.

So you can imagine our delight and surprise to see fresh mozzarella at Trader Joe’s during a recent visit. We instantly remembered that wonderful appetizer and decided to change our menu for the evening.

We decided to try and re-create the appetizer as a salad and added the quartered cheese to a chopped up salad of tomatoes, cucumbers and spinach.

We made a fresh salad dressing with some apple cider vinegar and also added some sliced, pitted kalamata olives on top. WOW was it good!

Our Chopped Salad with Fresh Mozzarella

Our Chopped Salad with Fresh Mozzarella

Eeks! sorry the picture is a bit blurry… we hope you can get the idea 🙂

Trader Joe’s Wine: Grower’s Reserve Zinfandel 2009

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Trader Joe's Zinfandel

Trader Joe's Zinfandel

A wine moment with Delaina…the sipping continues….

I believe I have mentioned that I for the most part love Zinfandels. I am seduced by their smooth flavor and enchanted by their complexity. Don’t get me wrong you will often read me saying the same thing about other red wines but I have never met a Zinfandel I did not love.

Here is a wonderful example of a great zin: Trader Joe’s  Grower’s Reserve Zinfandel 2009. I was very impressed by this $5.99 Zin. I shared this bottle with a friend, as we worked on a project and we were both impressed. The wine came from ASV Wines in San Martin, California. I have never heard of that vineyard, but will tell you I won’t soon forget it.

Funny….I have not even told you the best part.

Beyond this wine being one of the most enjoyable with all of the right things- smoothness, complexity, and under $6 – it is also organic. Yep! you read that right- organic. I could not believe it. Another value bonus from Trader Joe’s

So the label talks about the wine’s flavor as a mixture of berry and plum with a hint of pepper.  I always look for reds that are described with berry, plum and sometime cherry tones, but as I rule I stay away from peppery. I just find that my taste buds will latch on to the peppery and taste nothing else. This usually puts me at odds with many Chilian wines. Never mind,  the point that I am trying to get across,  is that I could not taste the pepper, or maybe more to the point if there was a hint of pepper it only enhanced the berry and plum flavors.

Trader Joe's Delish Zinfandel, 2009

Trader Joe's Delish Zinfandel, 2009

So just in case you were not sure…I highly recommend the Trader Joe’s Grower’s Reserve Zinfandel. I would serve it with anything or just sip it by itself because it is a very drinkable wine. I hope you enjoy this wine at least as much as I have enjoyed talking about it.

Cheers!

Delaina

How To Make Fresh Salad Dressing Fast

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Making great tasting, fresh, salad dressing is faster than you think. You simply toss a few ingredients into a bowl, whisk these together and then add some more ingredients and then taste and adjust if necessary. These kinds of homemade salad dressings are so light  and yet have a lot of strong flavor.

These are the kind of dressings that are usually served in little French Bistro restaurants on their gourmet salads.  So light and tasty are these dressings that they really highlight the flavors of the vegetables.

The trick is to find the balance between the olive oil and the lemon juice (or vinegar). If you start with the thought that Salad Dressings are typically 1/3 acid (lemon juice or vinegar) and 2/3 olive oil, then you are on the right path.

Once you have made fresh salad dressing a couple of times, you will just love how easy they are to make  and  also the fact that you can make your salad dressing fresh whenever you want to.

A basic Salad Dressing recipe only has a few ingredients:

  • Olive Oil
  • Lemon juice or vinegar (we like to use Apple Cider Vinegar or Balsamic Vinegar)
  • Mustard
  • Salt and Pepper

1. Start by adding 1Tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar to your bowl. Then add about 1 Teaspoon of mustard and a pinch of salt and pepper. Whisk together until smooth.

2. Now, while you are whisking, add 2Tablespoons of olive oil to the bowl and keep whisking until they are well combined.

3. Taste (use a piece of lettuce) and see if you need to add more lemon or olive oil, or if more salt or pepper is necessary.

The great thing about making fresh salad dressing at home is that you can make a small amount for a salad one day, and then the next time you make it, you can totally change it up by using a different vinegar or adding a bunch of chopped herbs (thyme or tarragon are especially good).

We hope you are intrigued to make some fresh home-made salad dressing the next time you are having a salad. Please let us know what combination you used and what you thought.

Trader Joe’s Feta Cheese

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Trader Joe's Feta Cheese

Trader Joe's Feta Cheese

Now that the weather is consistently warm here in Tucson, we are enjoying more salads. So when we had a hankering for a chopped Greek Salad we also had an opportunity to check out the selection of Feta cheeses at Trader Joes. We have tried a couple of other kinds of Feta in other stores, but this Trader Joe’s Feta Cheese is just top of the list.

This 8 oz brick of cheese can be cut up into cubes and marinated in olive oil and oregano and served as an appetizer or as Tapas.

But we prefer to break it apart with our hands, and crumble it into chunks both large and small and use on top of salads. Especially those chopped Greek Salads… YUM!!

What we do is to chop or dice up cucumbers, tomatoes, red onions (small chop!)  and then mix these all up with light, lemony vinaigrette. This can be served up in bowls as-is or on top of a bed of lettuce.

Then just before you serve, sprinkle the top with the Trader Joe’s Feta Cheese crumbles, so they stay on top and make a beautiful contrasting picture against all the red tomatoes and green cucumbers.

If you have not tried this salad before we urge you to get chopping! They are truly refreshing and light and yet full of flavor for a hot summer night.

Do you like Feta Cheese? Have you tried Trader Joe’s Feta Cheese? What did you think? Please take a minute to leave a comment after this post. Even if you just want to say hello we  love to hear from all our readers!