Ciliegine Caprese Salad

I know I've made a Tomato and Mozzarella salad before, but this one was a little different because I used Ciliegine or "cherry sized" fresh mozzarella, as well as my fresh Jersey garden tomatoes. I only planted one Roma tomato bush this year and it didn't take well (I have to admit, I'm not much of a gardener); however, my in-laws planted,  and were able to grow, a bountiful harvest of red cherry tomatoes this season. With my MIL still in rehabilitation recovering from her recent hip replacement surgery, I was charged with going to the house to collect all of the tomatoes since they wouldn't be doing much cooking in the near future. I haven't had this salad in a while and thought it would accompany our dinner perfectly one evening. I wanted to add the golden cherry tomatoes as they are much sweeter than the red and gave this salad a wonderful flavor, not to mention the GORGEOUS color (what kid wouldn't want to eat this!). 

I also made a chiffonade out of the basil, which is another way to cut the fresh basil leaves into thin strips. Simply gather rinsed fresh basil leaves, stack them together, roll them into a tube-like shape, then slice the tube thinly into strips. It gives your salad a nice, clean, uniform look. 

Ciliegine Caprese Salad
1-8oz. Ciliegine Mozzarella
1-10oz. Sunburst Golden Tomatoes, cut in half
2 c. Fresh Garden Cherry Tomatoes
2 tbsp. Basil Chiffonade
2 tbsp. Aged Balsamic Vinegar
3 tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Kosher Salt, to taste
Fresh Ground Black Pepper, to taste

Add all ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. Serves 6-8. 

Enjoy!