Summer Tomato Salad with Basil, Goat Cheese and a Balsamic Reduction

Have you ever had a caprese salad?  Thick sweet juicy tomatoes topped with basil leaves, soft creamy fresh mozzarella and finished off with balsamic vinegar and olive oil.  It's one of my favorite salads and one of my favorite ways to enjoy ripe summer tomatoes.  I decided to do a play on this delicious salad and twist it up just a bit using some fresh made basil goat cheese that Hubby and I picked up at last week's farmer's market in place of the mozzarella.  The other twist was to use a balsamic vinegar reduction that I saw recently on the The Pioneer Woman Cooks (check our her site to see a gorgeous caprese salad).  The balsamic reduction is so sweet and lovely and perfectly compliments the basil goat cheese, fresh basil and luscious tomatoes.

This summer tomato salad with basil, goat cheese and balsamic reduction is the final salad in the Trio of Summer Salads that Hubs and I enjoyed last weekend.  Since I love caprese salad, it's no surprise this was one of my favorites in the trio.  This salad is all about the tomatoes.  Maybe you have some nice ripe fat sweet tomatoes growing in your garden, or available from your local farmer's market? 

I really loved how the creamy mild basil goat cheese enhanced the tomatoes and balsamic reduction.  Simple ingredients, yet bursting with flavor.

One note about the balsamic reduction.  It thickens quite a bit after it cools...so be careful not to overcook.  I started with 1/2 cup if balsamic vinegar and ended up with way more than I needed.  I recommend using 1/4 cup and cooking it no more than 3 - 5 minutes if you don't want your balsamic to turn into tar. You can make more reduction if you have other dishes to use it on and you can store it in the fridge.

This salad is easy to make and incredibly delicious!  Give it a try!


Summer Tomato Salad with Basil, Goat Cheese and Balsamic Reduction

Serves 2

2 large ripe tomatoes
6-8 medium/large basil leaves
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 ounce of goat cheese (you can use an herb cheese or plain chevre as well)
2 teaspoons of good extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper to taste

Using a small sauce pan on medium low heat, cook down balsamic vinegar until slightly thickened, stirring with wooden spoon frequently, about 3-5 minutes.  Remove from heat and set aside to cool.  Stack basil leaves on top of one another and starting at one end, roll the stack up into a little mini cigar.  Using your knife cut 1/4 inch thick ribbons starting at one end of the roll until you make your way all the across.  Wash tomatoes and dry.  Slice tomatoes 1/2 inch thick, discarding the slice containing the stem end of the tomato.  Place tomatoes on serving plate and season the top side of each tomato slice lightly with sea salt and fresh cracked pepper.  Using a fork, crumble generous bits of goat cheese on top of the tomato slices, ensuring that each slice has least a teaspoon of cheese.  Drizzle the balsamic reduction over the tomatoes.  Use as much (or little) as you like.  Drizzle olive oil over the tomatoes and lastly, top with the ribbons of basil.  Serve immediately.

Tomato Basil Bruschetta

I'm all about appetizers.  Appetizers can make up a meal as far I'm concerned. The more flavors I can sample, the happier I am.  We had an appetizer lunch on Sunday.  Our lunch consisted of Boursin cheese and multi-grain crackers, crudite plate (a fancy word for veggie tray) with ranch dressing and tomato basil bruschetta with freshly baked roasted garlic Italian bread from La Brea Bakery.

Bruschetta is a roasted, toasted or grilled bread, typically rubbed with garlic and topped with olive oil, salt and pepper.  I didn't realize it was that simple.  For most of my life I thought bruschetta was grilled or toasted bread topped with a delicious tomato, basil, balsamic mixture.  That's the way my family always made it. 

Tomato basil bruschetta is an incredibly simple dish to make, yet the flavors make your mouth sing.  It's key to use ripe tomatoes.  Cherry or grape tomatoes are my go to tomatoes.  They have a ton of flavor, right up there with a home grown tomato.  Cherry tomatoes can be a bit tedious to cut up, but the effort is worth it based on the amazing flavor packed into these petite little tomatoes. 

Sea salt, pepper, aged balsamic vinegar, a bit of sugar, a splash of olive oil and freshly chopped basil bring these tomatoes to life.  Freshly toasted bread is the perfect vehicle to soak up the balsamic goodness.  Freshly grated parmesan cheese is the ultimate finishing touch.

Tomato Basil Bruschetta

2 cups diced grape or cherry tomatoes
Fine sea salt
Freshly ground pepper
1 teaspoon sugar
4 tablespoons of good quality aged balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons of good fruity extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons of fresh chopped basil
1/4 cup finely grated parmigano regiano cheese
Freshly baked baguette or bread of your choice
1 large clove of garlic, peeled and cut in half (optional)

Squeeze excess juice and seeds out of the diced tomatoes and discard.  Place tomatoes in a medium bowl and season lightly with sea salt and pepper and stir.  Add sugar and stir.  Stir in balsamic vinegar and olive oil.  Let the tomatoes marinate for at least 20 minutes or up to an hour.  Just before serving stir in basil.

This recipe is very flexible.  If you like more balsamic, by all means, use more. 
While the tomato mixture is marinating, prepare your bread.  Pre-heat oven to 375 and line a baking sheet with foil.  Slice baguette at an angle in 1/4 inch thickness.  If you like, you can brush the slices lightly with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Place bread in the oven and bake for 6-7 minutes.  Turn bread over and bake for an additional 4-5 minutes until lightly toasted.  I prefer my bread just slightly toasted, not crunchy.  But you can adjust your baking time according to your preference of toastiness.
When bread comes out of the oven, take the cut side of one half of the garlic and rub it over the warm bread. 

You can serve it family style or pre-assemble the bruschetta.
1. Family style: Place tomato basil mixture in a serving bowl and arrange bread on a plate.  Place parmesan cheese in a small bowl and have your guests assemble their bruschetta, topping a piece of bread with the tomato basil mixture and sprinkling with parmesan cheese

2. Pre-assemble:  If you decide to pre-assemble them take into consideration that the tomato mixture will soften the bread.  I don't recommend this approach unless the bruschetta will be eaten immediately.  To pre-assemble top each piece of bread with a generous spoonful of tomato basil mixture and finish with a sprinkling of parmesan cheese.

Chicken Marsala, Orange and Gorgonzola Salad with Garlic Croutons

I am in love with the Chicken Marsala served at Romano's Macaroni Grill. I know... Macaroni Grill is only one small step above Olive Garden in the Americanized world of Italian chain restaurants. But this stuff is good $hit! Yep, you heard me.

It's all about the sauce. The sauce is a rich gravy with a hint of sweetness and swimming in whole cloves of soft roasted garlic and gorgeous sauteed portobella mushrooms. I was determined to replicate this dish at home and searched online for a Macaroni Grill knock off. After making a few tweaks I think it's an excellent alternative to sitting at Macaroni Grill while your server displays their talent for writing their name upside down in crayon your paper table cloth. Not that that is not a good skill to have in your back pocket! Anyway, this recipe made a dinner appearance at last week's girl's getaway vacation.

This is no low calorie affair, but the entire stick of butter in here is worth every extra minute spent on the treadmill! I like mine extra saucy so I up the chicken broth and marsala wine quantities. I also add a little butter flour mixture to thicken up the sauce a bit. This go round it didn't turn out quite as saucy as I would have liked. But the flavor was all there!


Served over orzo pasta (leftover from our Shrimp Baked with Tomatoes and Feta dinner) and alongside a wonderful salad, this was a meal that I completely overstuffed myself on. The salad, made by one of the girls, was dee-lish! And the gals made homemade croutons from the french bread leftover from our Croque Monsieurs).





RECIPES

Orange, Tomato and Gorgonzola Salad
Ingredients:
Lettuce mix of your choice (Romaine holds up well)to serve 6 people
1 pint mini heirloom tomatoes or grape tomatoes
2 avocados sliced
2 mandarin oranges, sectioned
4 ounces of gorgonzola cheese
4 green onions thinly sliced
Garlic Croutons (see recipe below)
Creamy Balsamic Dressing (store bought)

Directions:
Toss all ingredients together, except the croutons. Squeeze left over orange juice from the rinds over the top of the salad and top with croutons. Serve creamy balsamic dressing on the side.

Garlic Croutons
Ingredients:
French bread cut into 1 inch cubes
Olive oil spray
Sea Salt
Fresh Ground Pepper
Garlic Powder

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 F. Place croutons onto a foil lined baking sheet. Spray generously with olive oil spray. Season to taste with sea salt, pepper and garlic powder and toss with your hands to evenly distribute seasonings. Bake for about 15 minutes or until lightly golden brown.

Chicken Marsala
Adapted from Irish Rose's recipe

Ingredients:
1 1/2 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts , cut into 8 pieces
ground pepper and salt
flour, for coating chicken plus 1 tablespoon for sauce
7 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cups portobella or cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced
4-6 garlic cloves, minced
1 large shallot, minced
2 tablespoons parmesan cheese, grated
1 1/2 cups marsala wine, sweet not dry
1/2 - 3/4 cup chicken stock

Directions:
1. Place chicken pieces between waxed paper or plastic wrap and flatten to 1/3 inch thick with a meat mallet. Season each piece with salt and pepper and then coat in flour. Shake off excess flour.
2. Melt 3 tablespoons butter and the oil in skillet and fry chicken in batches on medium heat for about 5 minutes each side.
3. Remove chicken from pan and arrange in a single layer in shallow ovenproof pan. Put in low oven (275-300 degrees) to stay warm.
4. Add 2 tablespoons butter and garlic to skillet and saute (do not brown) for a few minutes until soft. Add mushrooms and saute about 5-7 minutes. Use slotted spoon to lift mushrooms out of skillet and arrange on top of chicken breasts. Sprinkle with cheese and put back in oven until you finish next step.
5. Pour Marsala wine into skillet along with chicken broth and remaining 1 tablespoons butter and boil rapidly until reduced by half. Mash 1 tablespoon of butter with 1 tablespoon of flour and whisk into sauce. Simmer until sauce thickens, about 1-2 minutes. Remove chicken from oven, plate it and pour wine mixture over the chicken breasts.

Serve alongside angel hair or orzo pasta.