This week’s French Fridays with Dorie recipe is exactly the sort of thing I look forward to eating more of when I head to Paris for a month next week. When I lived there as a poor student (then a poor teacher, LOL!) I would often eat mozzarella and tomato salad for my dinner, washed down with a cold glass of rosé and with a hunk of baguette to mop up the delicious oil and vinegar. Dorie brings my old standby to the next level by adding strawberries and mint for a wonderful combination of sweet and savoury that’s difficult to beat on a hot day.
We served this with our best olive oil and balsamic for a decedent treat. Not often do we bust out the “good stuff” but on a salad, you can really notice the better quality so it’s worth it.
With a hunk of baguette, it made a perfect meal last weekend when we had spent the day cleaning out the basement and had no energy left to cook dinner…
The following day, when our neighbours and Neil were planting our new ornamental grasses garden, I felt compelled to serve lunch (since I wasn’t helping – I have no green thumbs at all and everything I touch pretty much dies!). I stacked the ingredients and made a little tomato, mozzarella and strawberry tower for a different presentation – proving that simple can be made elegant with not much trouble at all.
After a hard morning planting and digging, it was most appreciated. By both the person preparing and the person enjoying it!
Edited to add: I was convinced this had mint in it but all around the FFWD participants this morning I saw basil, then I checked the book and see basil too. No matter, the mint worked well 🙂
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French Fridays with Dorie participants do not publish the recipes on our blogs, rather, we prefer if you purchase Around My French Table for yourselves (trust me, you definitely want this book!) which you can do here on Amazon or Amazon Canada. Or for free worldwide shipping, buy from The Book Depository.
Congratulations to Renée from Kudos Kitchen who won a copy of the Peko Peko Charity Cookbook for Japan giveaway.
Renée, I will be in touch via email for your mailing address.
Don’t despair if you didn’t win though – you can purchase your copy here.
My mouth is absolutely watering just looking at this! I love tomato and mozzarella but then adding strawberries?! Fabulous.
Cheers Jessica 🙂
Strawberries tossed with balsamic reduction had become one of my new favorite things. This takes it to a whole different level, talk about mouth watering..
It’s a great combo for sure!
Yes, a delightful treat to revive us drawers of water, hewers of wood…
A crisp rose would be brilliant, but as we were so dehydrated I opted for a Limonato instead. Mmmm.
Ah rosé 🙂
A work of art!
Thanks Belinda!
Lovely composition. Enjoy your time in France! A salad like this would definitely help me get into the spirit of things.
I know, right? So glad you understand!
SO gorgeous, Mardi!!! Your plating is superb…
Thanks, sometimes it works out how I want it to!
First let me say…Woo Hoo!!! I really won the Peko Peko cookbook? Me? I never win anything! I’m so excited Mardi. Thank you so very much!!!
Secondly, your presentation for the mozzarella, tomato and strawberry salad leaves me jealous. I wish I had thought to do the same thing (with the stacking). It looks perfect. Fine restaurant perfect! The flavors in this salad were so delicious. The addition of the strawberry added just a mild bit of sweet to compliment the balsamic and marry with the tomato. Your colors are clean and true on the plate. Mine got muddled and confusing looking. BTW,
lucky you for heading back to Paris…you lucky girl! Oh great, now I’m jealous again! 🙂
Thanks again for the cookbook Mardi. I can’t wait to get it!
Yeah you see the plate I served myself, was also a bit muddled… That’s why I experimented with the stacks! And congrats 🙂
Beautiful presentation and, yes, this salad deserves breaking out the expensive olive oil and balsamic. Paris for a month! Lucky girl.
Indeed it was 🙂
What a stunning dish… This is the definition of summer here… I would also probably take out the good salts for this one.
Yes, yes – the good salts too!
Gorgeous stack! Love the drops of balsamic, they look great and add a classy touch!
Yes, normally I just pour it on but with the good stuff, I was more careful!
I absolutely love the addition of strawberries to this classic combo. And your photos are stunning!
Thanks Kelly!
Mardi: fab fab fab presentation. I love how this brought 2 classics together in one, like lovers: fragole (strawberries) con aceto balsamico and insalata caprese!
I know – I can’t believe I have not thought of this before!
The first photo of the stacked salad looks so awfully fresh, it literally pops off the screen! Gorgeous, Mardi. I too have un-green fingers and can’t nurture anything with roots. My mom says I have ‘warm hands’…I guess that goes with the warm heart. LOL.
Enjoy Paris! We want stories, pictures.
Well warm hands and warm heart are good things to have too! And there will be pictures!
Such a pretty salad! Enjoy your trip.
Thanks Marisa!
Mardi, this is a lovely post. Agree, this kind of salad is great when you don’t feel like cooking and look at that fabulous result. Bet it was super with the mint. Makes a superb refreshing change to the old tomates-mozza!
Yes it’s a nice twist!
Mint? Of course there’s mint. That was how I made mine too! 😀
Seriously, I was at the market and faced with the season’s first fresh local basil and mint. Guess which one I picked with the salad in mind? I have to agree mint was good!
Love the tower presentation with the elegant dots of balsamic.
Right but I think there was also basil too!
I absolutely love love love your presentation!! Sooo pretty!
Cheers Kate!
Love the stacked presentation – and mint! That would have been lovely! Lucky duck, Paris for a MONTH?? That would be my dream summer! Can’t wait to see your posts from there!
I’ll see what I can do!
Beautiful photos! You just made me drool with the description of those earlier meals of yours in Paris. Man, I want to go back so bad! 🙂
🙂 Thanks!
Beautiful dish! Especially with the strawberries – it’s perfect! With the balsamic drizzled over it… I would definitely love t o have this refreshing salad any day.
It’s a great lunch or light dinner, for sure!
This looks great!! I love me a big slab of mozzarella! 🙂
– Brittany
Don’t we all? 😉
Pretty! You were a complete artist with the carefully placed balsamic drops. This salad definitely called for using ‘the good stuff’ – with such simple ingredients, every one counts!
Thanks, I admit to using an eye dropper here – well it *was* the good stuff after all!
That salad looks incredibly tasty!
Tasty AND pretty – what could be better?
Beautiful salad, stunning presentation. I can’t think of anything better to go with a nice fresh baguette! And, you were so right to breakout the *good stuff* for this.
Wow thanks Paula, you are always so kind!
That salad is seriously gorgeous. Like SERIOUSLY. Love the colors and yei for Renee winning the book! Congrats and happy Friday Mardi!
With such pretty ingredients it couldn’t NOT be pretty, right?
What a beautiful interpretation of this recipe. The perfect thing to get you “ready” for Paris. 🙂
Couldn’t agree more!
Your presentation is so lovely! Beautiful looking salad and very nice photos!
Mardi, I cannot believe that you do not have a green thumb! You are such a sensitive soul and plants feel that:) Give it another try – maybe with herbs? Chives are pretty sturdy!
I think that your intuition led you in the right direction – mint would definitely work in this salad, a bit more of a Greek influence, than French or Italian, but who cares?
This was a great salad, and I enjoyed every morsel thoroughly.
Herbs, I can do. Other plants, not so much 🙁 An dyes, the mint works well, no matter where it comes from!
I love your stacked presentation, so elegant. I agree with Lana, an herb garden is a good way to develop a green thumb. Herbs are so forgiving. I think mint with strawberries is a great combo. I used lemon balm from my herb garden and it worked well with the salad flavors. This was a sweet surprise.
Oh herbs I can generally do but when I am away a lot of the summer it’s hard…
Oh and lemon balm? Sounds wonderful!
How pretty! What a great job with presentation you did here!
Thanks – I do what I can!
What a beautiful salad. Love the strawberries too!
Cheers!
I have to admit I’m trying to wrap my mind around this one and the post definitely caught my attention! You’ve piqued my curiosity and I think I need to try this! If the pictures are any indication I’m sure it’s amazing 🙂
It’s so unusual but so simple – you must try it!
I would never think of use strawberries. Great idea.
Neither would I have but now I would.
Caprese salad is one of my favorites! I have 25 year old Balsamic, but – believe it or not – I’ve actually had 100 year old balsamic!
It was at a really great restaurant and I was allergic to an ingredient in the salad dressing – so the chef broke out his personal stuff. I still dream of it!
The bottle had a waxed cork and he stood over me the entire time and whisked it right back after it was drizzled. Heaven, pure heaven!
Buzzed it – the photos are incredible!
Oh my goodness – all that Balsamic sounds wonderful – no wonder the chef whisked it away quickly!
I’ve made mozzarella and tomato salad with basil in the past, but never thought to add strawberries and mint. Sounds delicious! I can’t wait to give it a try.
It’s such an easy addition to an already wonderful salad…
This looks gorgeous and sounds so delicious. Basil or mint, I want to try both.
I think next time I would try it with both!
Absolutely beautiful! I love this dish and the photo is so amazing
Well Penny thanks!
Paris! I love Paris, so jealous. Have a great time.
Your salad looks beautiful. Looks very fancy all stacked up.
Thanks – I find when in doubt, stack!
That’s the first time i see this salad with strawberries, i like it a lot!
Me too – but not the last!
Very interesting combination!
Both tomato and strawberry are from the same family but I rarely seem them together, although they must taste divine!
I guess they *are* from the same family though we rarely think like that!
Love this sweet twist on caprese- sounds lovely with both mint and basil. And gorgeous photos girl!
Well thanks Winnie – means a lot!
Delightful! That salad is really awesome and so fresh. Gorgeous clicks too.
Cheers,
Rosa
Rosa – thank you so much for stopping by and your sweet words.
What a pretty delight! summer’s flavours at its best…
-Shilpa
Nothing better than a fresh salad like this when it’s hot!
I love the plating of your salad, so professional!
Thanks – it looked so flat on the plate that I figured it would be better stacked!
That mozzarella-tomato napoleon looks beautiful !! Congrats!
Merci!
Love the addition of the strawberries! I wouldn’t have thought of it, but I can see how it would work so well.
Jason
It is so great!
Mardi – Thanks so much for this recipe! I made it for supper tonight and it was AWESOME! I never would have dreamed of putting strawberries with tomatoes in this salad, but it works great!
Neither would I but it really works!
Mmm, currently on vacation in Italy and this sounds like an excellent way to spruce up all the mozzerella and tomato we’ve been eating!
A fabulous change!