Summer luxury is ripe, fresh salad. You need the freshest ingredients to experience this in its highest form. The first step is to buy your ingredients at the local farmer's market, not a big-ass supermarket. (Not Trader Joe's or Whole Foods, where the hybrid vegetables on sale have been bred for looks not taste, are shipped hundreds of miles (adding greenhouse gases to the atmosphere), have been jostled, and stored in warehouses.)
First, start with the tomatoes. Heirloom tomatoes tend to be those that grow best in your geographic region. Bred for taste, they are often prone to spotting or other gardener dilemmas. (Oops, I'm on my soapbox... Besides endangered animal species, there are countless endangered plant species. When consumers buy the same handful varieties of apples, tomatoes, rice, what ripple effect does it have on our ecosystem, when the varieties we don't grow anymore go extinct?) Heirloom tomatoes that come from your local farm might have funny shapes, have thin skins, and need to be handled delicately, but they taste great! List of heirloom tomatoes. Here in Virginia, where it's hard to get "pure breds", my personal pick is "Early Girl" as a next best choice.
Next, the lettuce. Currently, Green Oak Leaf is my favorite. It's pure and simple, like butterleaf but more delicate. I buy it from a local organic, hydroponic farmer, with the roots still on. Buying live lettuce in a bag, roots intact, is the best way I've found to keep the lettuce fresh until it goes on the plate. To store it, place a damp paper towel around the roots, leave the lettuce in its bag, loosely closed so some circulation can get inside, and put it in the refrigerator. Finally, the basil. With at least 50 kinds of basil to choose from, everyone probably has their favorite. For this salad, I usually choose the standard, sweet (italian) basil. You know, the bright green kind with the rounder leaves... Fresh cut herbs can be kept in a small glass of water, similar to the way you keep fresh flowers.
Tear off some lettuce and basil leaves. Wash & spin the lettuce and basil. Wash the tomatoes carefully. Using a serrated knife, slice the tomatoes into about 1/4" slices. Next slice the mozzarella. (If you're watching your figure, you can cut the mozzarella slices thinner than the tomatoes.)
Get out your salad plates. Arrange the washed lettuce leaves on one-half of the plate. On the other half of the plate, alternately arrange the slices of tomatoes & mozzarella. Drizzle a small amount of olive oil over the whole plate (less than a tablespoon). Season with salt & pepper to taste. Tear up the basil leaves & sprinkle over the tomato/mozzarella slices. Serve with a fresh baguette. Ahh, the good life!
