Tomato Garden Salad with Burrata Cheese
It’s that time of the year when our gardens are full of tomatoes, salad greens, fresh basil and herbs. Why not throw together a Tomato Garden Salad with Burrata Cheese in a matter of minutes? Preparing a composed salad showing off the bounty of your garden makes a simple salad turn into a fancy appetizer or even a fabulous healthy meal.
Don’t miss out on this year’s tomato season if you don’t have a garden as prolific as mine. Head to your local Farmers Market and get some of the season’s best before they are gone.
Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 2 Beets pink preferred (boil in water in advance and let cool)
- 4 cups fresh garden salad greens such as tender lettuce, arugula, baby kale
- 4 ripe Mission figs quartered
- 2 large heirloom tomatoes sliced
- 1 ball of burrata cheese quartered
- Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper
- Good quality extra virgin olive oil
- Balsamic Vinegar from Modena Italy
- Handful of basil leaves
Instructions
- If you are adding beets to your salad, boil them gently in water for approximately 20 minutes or until tender when pierced with a knife. Length of time will depend on the size of the beets. I choose pink or golden beets as they don’t bleed on the lettuce. Cook them in advance and chill. Peel, cut the beets in half and then in small wedges.
- To compose your salad, line plate with fresh salad greens. I’ve had arugula growing wild in my garden, So that is always in my salad mix. Add the heirloom tomatoes, quartered figs, beet wedges,, leaving the center open for the Burrata cheese. Burrata cheese is a ball of soft cheese like fresh mozzarella, but the center is runny. It’s packed in water and is very perishable. Cut through the center of the ball to expose the soft pillowy cheese in the center. I like to quarter it and put at the center of the salad.
- Salt the tomatoes with a little Kosher salt to bring out their sweetness and grind some pepper over them. Drizzle the salad with olive oil and Balsamic vinegar. Choose a high quality sweet vinegar. Fold the basil leaves at the center and snip them right onto the salad to garnish.
- ENJOY THIS RECIPE FROM FreshFoodinaFlash.com