Juicy ripe homegrown tomatoes, mozzarella, basil, avocado, crisp lettuce and some peppery olive oil. That’s pretty much all this Caprese salad bowl is, but oh my, it sure has a wow factor. And the recipe is perfect for a light summer lunch or side dish.
As I mostly work from home, I often eat lunch alone. Mostly I have an omelette or something on toast, but occasionally it’s nice to make a bit more of an effort. Not that this Caprese salad bowl with avocado and lettuce is much of an effort.
What Is Caprese Salad?
As the name suggests, this famous Italian salad, Insalata Caprese, comes from the Isle of Capri. Other than this known fact, all bets are off.
There’s a story of it dating back to World War I when it was invented by a patriotic mason to represent the colours of the Italian flag; another came about when King Farouk of Egypt asked for an afternoon snack whilst exiled in Capri in the 1950s and received a bun stuffed with mozzarella, tomatoes and basil.
The original Caprese salad was allegedly made with cow’s milk mozzarella, tomatoes, olive oil and garnished with fresh oregano and rocket. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but these days it’s basil that makes up the green element of this colourful dish.
Slices of tomato and mozzarella are laid out on a plate with basil scattered over them and a drizzle of olive oil. It’s usually served as a starter.
As Caprese salad is so simple and has very few ingredients, they all need to be tip top. Get the best ripe and juicy tomatoes you can find. Large or small, it doesn’t matter, it’s the flavour you’re after.
Buffola mozzarella cheese is richer than that made from cows, it’s easy to get hold of fresh basil and the olive oil should be cold pressed and flavoursome.
Homegrown Veg
I used the first of our homegrown tomatoes for this recipe – red ‘Latah’, ‘Indigo Rose’ and golden ‘Ildi”. It’s very exciting to be able to grow tomatoes once again – a few years have elapsed since we’ve produced anything worthwhile.
We also grew the lettuce, basil and chives you can see in this Caprese salad bowl. We’ve only made a small start on the garden this year, but our small harvest has nevertheless been most satisfying.
Caprese Salad Bowl With Avocado And Lettuce for One
Some people can get very sniffy about messing around with this Italian classic, so if you’re one of those, best not go any further. My Caprese salad bowl has additions.
I was served insalata Caprese in a bonafide Italian restaurant once. It had slices of avocado laid out between the mozzarella and tomatoes and was one of the best starters I’ve ever had.
Don’t worry about using half a mozzarella ball. The other half will keep perfectly well in the fridge until the next day as will the remaining avocado, if well wrapped. No salt needed for this zingy summer salad, but you can always add a pinch if you feel you need to.
This gorgeous caprese salad bowl was so good, I ate it just as it was for lunch. The next day I had it again. You can of course double the quantities for two people, which would result in no leftover cheese or avocado.
For something a bit more substantial, some good bread to mop up the juices would make an excellent accompaniment. In fact CT and I have enjoyed this for supper on many an occasion this summer.
Other Summer Salad Recipes You Might Like
- Fattoush salad
- Middle Eastern chickpea salad (vegan)
- Quinoa, watercress, walnut and blue cheese salad with roasted asparagus
- Sausage salad
- Sicilian pasta salad (vegan)
- Vegetarian salade Niçoise
And on this very subject, I happen to have a useful recipe collection post for all the summer salad recipes you will ever need.
Keep in Touch
Thanks for visiting Tin and Thyme. If you make my Caprese salad bowl, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below. And do please rate the recipe. Have you any top tips? Do share photos on social media too and use the hashtag #tinandthyme, so I can spot them.
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If you’d like more avocado recipes, follow the link and you’ll find I have quite a lot of them. All delicious and nutritious, of course.
Choclette x
Caprese Salad Bowl with Avocado. PIN IT.
Caprese Salad Bowl – The Recipe
Caprese Salad Bowl with Avocado & Lettuce for One
Ingredients
- 3 medium tomatoes or 6 to 8 smaller ones make sure they are ripe and juicy
- ½ mozzarella ball – drained
- ½ an avocado – peeled
- 3-4 crisp lettuce leaves
- 6 basil leaves – torn
- a few chives – snipped
- ½ lemon – juiced
- good drizzle of extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Tear the lettuce leaves and place at the bottom of a bowl.3-4 crisp lettuce leaves
- Cut the avocado and tomatoes into chunks and lay over the lettuce.½ an avocado – peeled, 3 medium tomatoes or 6 to 8 smaller ones
- Tear the mozzarella into pieces and scatter on top of the tomatoes.½ mozzarella ball – drained
- Throw in the herbs then squeeze the lemon juice over everything. Lastly drizzle on a little olive oil.6 basil leaves – torn, a few chives – snipped, ½ lemon – juiced, good drizzle of extra virgin olive oil
Notes
Nutrition Estimate
Linkies
I’m sharing my Caprese salad bowl with #CookBlogShare which is hosted by Gluterama this week.
francesco caselli says
This is delicious! I will prepare this evening for my partner. Thank you very much
Choclette says
Oh lovely, tomatoes are just fantastic at the moment. I hope you both like it.
Sylvie says
I love a good Caprese Salad, especially when it is made with homegrown veggies! Looks super delicious 🙂
Choclette says
Ah yes, those homegrown tomatoes. They make it extra special for sure.
Charlotte says
I love the idea of adding avocado to your caprese salad, it looks absolutely delicious.
Choclette says
Thanks Charlotte. It’s a fabulous addition which just raises the flavour profile by several notches.
Heidi Roberts says
Fantastic to use your home grown produce to make such a fresh and refreshing salad!
Choclette says
Thanks Heidi. Homegrown is always a winner, but I hope one day to start growing properly again. I need to take a leaf out of your book.
Kavita Favelle says
What a lovely looking bowl of salad, looks more filling this way that flatly arranged on a huge plate. Probably a good thing when I’m trying not to be tempted by other things after!
Choclette says
If you want filling, it’s probably best to have some bread with it. But in the heat of the day, I found I couldn’t eat much anyway and this was ideal.
Ceri Jones says
Bit jealous of those homegrown tomatoes Choclette! I spent quite some time starring at capri earlier this year, but never managed to get over there! Shame. I love this salad, and a bit of effort for a delicious lunch is always a goer!
Choclette says
Oh that’s a shame Ceri. I’ve never been to Italy at all, which is really quite shocking. Our tomatoes have just been fantastic and I’m so excited to be able to grow them again.
Mary says
What can one say with such beautiful produce except YUM. Just lovely. 🙂
Choclette says
Aw, thanks Mary. It’s very hard to beat homegrown tomatoes.
angiesrecipes says
Lots of colours and so fresh…I am very sure it’s DELICIOUS.
Choclette says
Thanks Angie, it’s been one of my go-to meals this summer when its just been too hot for cooking.