"a taste of summer" salad

one of my managers at work commented that i always seem to be cooking/baking super late at night. while i knew this to be true, i never really thought about it until she mentioned it. i don't intentionally wait until the wee hours of the morning to cook...but my schedule is usually so crazy that midnight seems to be the only time i can get into my zone. cooking (like cleaning) is therapeutic for me. i don't have to think about anything else except the ingredients and what i'm doing. so i guess i'm mindless when i cook. oh well...

so i was on pinterest yesterday and found a picture of this awesome salad. i got the initial recipe from this blog and just made a few enhancements. it literally is a mouthful of summer! i went to rancho market immediately after work (before i got kasia from the airport) because i was so excited to make it!! we had to make a run to winco at 11 to get the basil, limes, and mozzarella. so worth the drive!! our place smelled soooo good!!

ingredients:

1/2 container of cherry tomatoes, quartered

1 carton fresh mozzarella balls (i used marinated ones)

1 avocado, diced

1 cucumber, diced

handful of basil, julienned or chopped

handful of parsley, chopped

2 limes, juiced

1/4 cup olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

baguette if you want...i wanted one

shout out to aunt mel for my disney shakers!!

 

directions:

chop up the tomatoes, cheese, cucumber, basil, and parsley. you can add more tomatoes if you want...i just had flashbacks to a story that my mom likes to tell me when i was a toddler and got into a jar of cherry tomatoes.

 in a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, salt, pepper, and lime. a trick i learned a while ago (although i can't pinpoint the exact moment in time) with juicing limes...you want to roll the lime on the counter/table and kinda squish it to get the juices going before you cut it. try it. it works.

toss the dressing with the diced veggies, herbs, and cheese. add the avocado after you mix it. i don't like mushed avocado unless it is in the form of guacamole. you want this to chill before you serve it, so let it sit covered in the fridge so the flavors can marry. the only thing i would change for next time would be to add a little cilantro. 

i have some awesome friends moving into the apartment above me and they happened to be running up and down the stairs last night, so i got to use them as my taste testers. i love to cook, but i love to feed people more. i sliced up my baguette and drizzled a little olive oil on top and threw them in the broiler for 3 minutes to get nice and crisp. i topped them with this salad and i think it was a hit. i didn't bring it to work today because, well, i don't have an oven to crisp up the baguette!