Salads Archives

Salads

Easy Caprese Salad Skewers with Balsamic Glaze

This quick and easy appetizer is sure to be a hit at your next party. Traditional elements of a Caprese salad, tomato, basil and mozzarella are arranged on a short skewer for an instant and savory appetizer.

I like to think of this appetizer as a deconstructed Caprese salad. You can have this colorful appetizer ready in just minutes. I like to use varied tomato colors just to make it that more interesting, but you can totally use just red tomatoes and it will still be eye-catching!

Make sure you keep a set of these 6-inch skewers on hand to make this quick and easy appetizer. This is one of those appetizers that is perfect for just about any type of party or special occasion. Works well for summer BBQs, 4th of July, Memorial Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, birthdays, holidays, Christmas, Thanksgiving, and New Year’s celebrations. See why I mentioned keeping a set of skewers on hand? 😉

Drizzle the balsamic glaze on it just before serving to give it the finishing touch. Note: The warm balsamic glaze will start to melt the cheese on contact, so wait until you’re ready to serve it to add it.

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE:
Roasted Olives With Feta And Lemon
Stuffed Mushrooms With Sausage And Cream Cheese
Roasted Heirloom Tomato Basil Mozzarella Caprese Salad

Easy Caprese Salad Skewers with Balsamic Glaze

Prep time

10 mins

Total time

10 mins

This quick and easy appetizer is sure to be a hit at your next party. Traditional elements of a Caprese salad, tomato, basil and mozzarella are arranged on a short skewer for an instant and savory appetizer.

Author: Zesty Olive

Serves: 4

Ingredients

8 red grape tomatoes
8 yellow/orange grape tomatoes
32 medium fresh basil leaves, washed and patted dry
16 mini-Mozzarella balls 1 c. balsamic vinegar
Optional:
  2 T. high-quality extra-virgin olive oil to drizzle

Instructions

Thread one tomato onto a wooden skewer. Next, fold one basil leaf in half, dark side facing out, and add it to the skewer. Add one mini-Mozzarella ball, followed by another folded basil leaf, and end with another tomato in an alternate color.
Repeat Step #1 with the remaining tomatoes, basil, and Mozzarella until you have 16 completed skewers. Arrange on a serving platter and set aside.
To prepare the glaze, add balsamic vinegar to a small sauté pan over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring frequently, until the vinegar is reduced to about ⅓ of its original volume.
Remove glaze from heat and let cool slightly. Drizzle over the skewers, along with some extra virgin olive oil, if desired. Serve immediately. Enjoy!

DON’T FORGET TO PIN AND SHARE!

5 Comments

Recipes, Salads, Vegetables

Easy No Mayo Potato Salad Recipe

This Easy No Mayo Potato Salad Recipe is will become a favorite at your next picnic, BBQ or potluck.

Note: This post contains affiliate links.

This potato salad is elevated by the spicy addition of Dijon mustard. Sour cream replaces the mayonnaise and the addition of egg, celery, green onions and dill pickle make this a zesty potato salad worthy of your next gathering.

You can use any type of potato and this salad will turn out fabulous. Here, I used Yukon Gold potatoes because that’s what I had on hand. I like to peel my potatoes, although that’s not necessary if you like the skins on. Sometimes I do a rough peel and leave a bit of skin on; totally up to you.

Boil the potatoes until they are almost tender. Don’t over boil because then the potatoes absorb too much water and become mushy when you go to mix the salad, no matter how gently you do it. Once the potatoes are just this side of tender, remove from the heat, drain well and let cool completely. Sometimes I help this process along by putting the bowl/colander in the fridge until I’m ready to add the other ingredients and mix it together. That said, this salad is also tasty served warm.

Mayo is replaced by full fat sour cream. You can also use plain Greek yogurt, or a mix of the two. I tend to like the full fat sour cream because it has a rich flavor and is creamier than the yogurt. Note: don’t use fat-free sour cream. You need the fat and creaminess to make this really work.

The zest comes in with the Dijon mustard. Here’s my favorite. And I don’t skimp on this! This is totally up to your taste preference, but I always tend to add a dollop more because the potatoes are such a blank canvas that I need that extra dollop to really make these zing!

Hard boiled eggs, celery, a little green onion, dill pickles and Himalayan sea salt round out the flavors. Zesty!

Potato lover? Make sure you check out my other potato recipes:
Baked Scalloped Potatoes
Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Loaded Baked Potato Salad

If you like these recipes, consider joining the Zesty Recipes Facebook Group. We’d love to have you!

Easy No Mayo Potato Salad Recipe

Prep time

5 mins

Cook time

12 mins

Total time

17 mins

Easy No Mayo Potato Salad Recipe

Author: Zesty Olive

Serves: 4-6 servings

Ingredients

5-6 large Russet or Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into medium-small cubes
1 cup sour cream
½ cup Dijon mustard (more if you like it zesty)
2 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and chopped
⅓ cup chopped green onions
½ cup diced celery
½ cup diced dill pickle
2 tsp Himalayan salt

Instructions

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
While water is coming to a boil, peel and chop potatoes into small-medium cubes. Add to boiling water and cook until almost tender. Do not over boil as the potatoes will hold too much water and turn to mush when you go to assemble the salad.
Drain potatoes well and let them cool for a bit before moving forward with the recipe, unless you are serving your salad warm.
Place the potatoes in a large mixing bowl.
Add salt, sour cream and Dijon mustard. Using a large spoon, very lightly mix, taking care not to mush or break the potatoes.
Add most of the hard-boiled eggs, celery, dill pickle and green onions (reserving the rest for garnish on the top) and lightly toss to combine.
Transfer to serving bowl and garnish the top with the remaining ingredients.
Serve warm or chill the salad, covered, in the fridge until ready to serve.

DON’T FORGET TO PIN AND SHARE!

6 Comments

Recipes, Salads, Sides, Vegetables

Roasted Heirloom Tomato Basil Mozzarella Caprese Salad

For a twist on a classic Italian salad, try my Roasted Heirloom Tomato Basil Mozzarella Caprese Salad.

Note: This post contains Amazon affiliate links.

For a twist on the classic Italian Caprese salad, I use mini heirlooms and roast the salad to intensify the flavors. Mini heirloom tomatoes are readily available in grocery stores in the US these days, but this salad will, of course, work beautifully with any large heirloom tomatoes you find. I like to vary the tomato colors. In addition to the traditional red, try to find yellow, green, and even the darker shade, which looks between purple and black. The green of the basil and the white of the mozzarella cheese balls will create a gorgeous display.

This salad is so easy to put together. I drizzled a little olive oil in the bottom of a casserole dish, sliced the larger mini tomatoes and left a few of the smaller ones whole and added them to the dish. Salt them with some Himalayan sea salt. Add a few basil leaves (not all of them!) and roast for 30 minutes or until the tomatoes begin to soften. The basil leaves will turn brown; that’s okay, you will remove them before serving and replace with fresh basil leaves.

For the last 5 minutes or so of the roasting, add the mozzarella cheese balls – not too many – and let them just begin to melt during the last few minutes in the oven. Remove from the oven, make sure the roasted basil leaves have been removed and replace with fresh basil leaves.

Admire the pretty salad! Take a photo of it if you like! At this point, you could serve the salad as is; it’s delicious! However, I like to drizzle just a wee bit more olive oil and just a touch of balsamic vinegar over it before serving.

Enjoy!
Note: This post contains Amazon affiliate links.

Roasted Heirloom Tomato Basil Mozzarella Caprese Salad

Prep time

5 mins

Cook time

30 mins

Total time

35 mins

Roasted Heirloom Tomato Basil Mozzarella Caprese Salad

Author: Zesty Olive

Serves: 2-4

Ingredients

You can customize the serving sizes depending on how much of each ingredient you choose to use, therefore, no set amount of each ingredient is given.
Mini Heirloom tomatoes, slice larger ones; leave small ones whole
Fresh basil leaves
Fresh mozzarella mini cheese balls, or mozzarella, sliced
Extra virgin olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
Himalayan Sea Salt

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350° F.
Drizzled a little olive oil in the bottom of a casserole dish.
Sliced the larger mini tomatoes and leave the smaller ones whole. Add tomatoes to the dish.
Salt tomatoes.
Add a few basil leaves (not all of them) and roast for 30 minutes or until the tomatoes begin to soften. The basil leaves will turn brown; that’s okay, you will remove them before serving and replace with fresh basil leaves.
Remove from oven and add mozzarella cheese balls.
Return to oven for 3-5 minutes, or until cheese begins to melt.
Remove from the oven, and remove wilted basil leaves. Replace with fresh basil leaves.
Serve as is, or drizzle just a little more olive oil and just a touch of balsamic vinegar over the salad before serving.

Don’t’ forget to pin and share!

9 Comments