Tastes of Summer: Tomatoes! Tomato & Caper Salad

I  love tomatoes- good tomatoes- tomatoes that TASTE like tomatoes! It's a bit of a passion/pet peeve of mine. Any way to get more tomatoes in my diet, I'm on it! My good friend Dixie E. gave me this recipes recently and I may be addicted! 

One cool part of this salad is the use of cherry tomatoes. Cherry tomatoes are generally your best bet to get good tomato flavor out of season. Also, the rest of the ingredients are either pantry or long life refridgerator staples. For me at least. :) 

The original recipe calls for fresh basil, but I use Gourmet Garden Basil Paste. Actually, I use all their herb pastes a lot. I love being able to have "fresh" herbs on hand- very versital, easy to utilize, and longer shelf life. :) You can pick them up at just about any grocery store. Yum. :) 

I worked this it suit my liking and used a 10 oz pkg of cherry tomatoes. But, this would be fun and pretty to mix up using those containers of mixed variety tomatoes. Sometimes their called "jewel box" tomato mixes.

I like mine to have a lot of "juice", but if you find you enjoy less just cut down the oil & vinegar. Plus, depending on your affinity for capers you can dial it up or down. I seriously LOVE capers. :) No shock there as I'm also obsessed with any form of olive or pickles. :) I omited the black pepper, but sprinkled the salad lightly with cracked black pepper at the end.

Cherry Tomato Caper Salad

2 Tbs Drained small capers

2 Tbs balsamic vinegar

4 tsp. olive oil (1 Tbs & 1 tsp)

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

10 oz  cherry tomatoes,halved

3 fresh basil leaves, shredded

*or 1 Tbs Basil paste

Stir together all ingredients, less tomatoes.  Add tomatoes and toss to coat.  Chill at least 15 minutes or up to 1 hour. Best if serving within a day. (Tomatoes begin to wilt.)

This is so yummy I ate about 2/3 of it myself with supper last night! :) 

Enjoy! Please share how you enjoyed it & especially how you made it your own! :)

Simple Solution - Simple Syrup!

Like any self respecting Southern home, a pitcher of iced tea in our 'fridge is a perennial  fixture. But, up to this point, the tea was only for Chris since I shy away from caffeine and he prefers unsweet tea. I occasionally make a second picture of sweet tea, but it's just a hassle making room for a gallon of milk, juice, and two seperate tea pitchers!

But, after doctor's orders, Chris has cut his intake of caffeine down essentially to nil. He's doing really well cutting it out. Yay Chris! I know his blood pressure will appreciate it. I know he missed his Diet Pepsi, but he's been a real trooper!

Ok, back to tea! We've swapped over to decaf iced tea. But, we're sticking to the unsweet. I have decided to brew it more often and downsized from a gallon to a 2 quart pitcher, fresh brew = cleanest flavor! A side bonus, less 'fridge real estate. ;)

We ALL know stirring sugar into cold tea is a waste of time. :( But, I finally pulled out an idea from way back, I think from Alton Brown's "Good Eats". Make a simple  syrup!! *If you already know all about simple syrup, sorry! Bear with me. 

Simple syrup lets you have a liquid sweetener for any chilled beverages. 

Directions for One pint/2 cups of Syrup:

1 cup water 

1 cup granular white sugar

Set up your double boiler, and mix water with sugar in top bowl. Stir gently with a silicone spatula until the sugar is completely dissolved and remains so. Pour into heat safe jar before transferring. 

Now you and your guests can sweeten up your cold beverage as little or as much as they like! 

Faancy! Any bottle with a nice spout works.

My container :) Cooled in a canning jar first, transfered to this 16 oz pitcher, and store in 'fridge. My pitcher was $1.99 @ Publix. It has a nice tight lid & spout and pours great. :) 

*Double boiler makes this extremely hassle free. You can place any heat safe bowl over a gently boiling water bath. Microwaving is not recommended. If you want larger or smaller quantities just follow a 1:1 water to sugar ratio. 

Simple syrups are often used in mixing cocktails, but you can flavor them to your liking for by steeping fruit and or botanicals in your dissolving syrup. 

You can flavor many beverages starting with a simple hot tea

, hot cocoa, hot or iced coffees, spiced wine, even make non-alcoholic

"spiced wine" with heated 100% grape or cranberry

juice. If you are Interested in exploring, I googled

"flavored simple syrups" 

The uses go past beverages. Bakers often

brush sweet baking items such as breads,

buns, even cookies. If used before baking

the sugar helps the baking brown wonderfully and 

brushing the baking goods after help them stay

moist.

All around great product! Give it a shot! Let me

know how it works for you! :)

Simple Syrup Infusion:  

http://cocktails.about.com/od/infusedsimplesyruprecipe/Infused_Simple_Syrup_Recipes.htm