It’s no surprise that I like to cook, but I also like to go out to restaurants. It’s a great way to investigate taste, preparation and presentations. This Stacked Caprese Salad was inspired a dish from a wonderful restaurant on Coronado Island overlooking beautiful San Diego Bay.
Stacked Caprese Salad
Coronado Island is wonderful for so many reasons. It located right on beautiful San Diego Bay and the restaurants…well, I can’t even begin to tell you how wonderful they are. There was one within walking distance from the fabulous Hotel Del. These people really know how to cook and present food. I remember one dish that my husband, George, ordered that was a stacked appetizer of crab, avocado and mango. It was not only absolutely beautiful with the white, green and orange colors, but the tastes were perfect together. I loved the look and he loved the taste.
As a designer, I’m a very visual person. How furnishings should be placed, how paintings should be grouped, how a table should be set. Presentation has always been important to me, and that extends to cooking. So when I create dishes I always try to keep presentation in mind. Not only how does the dish look by itself on the plate, but how does it look with the rest of the meal? Are the flavors compatible?
When I made my Creamy Cheesy Cauliflower, I knew I needed something beautiful to compliment it. Since my cauliflower dish was rich and creamy, I needed something with texture, and I needed color as well since the dish was made with basically white ingredients. And then I remembered the crab stacked appetizer George ordered.
Since I was already having roast chicken as the main dish, how about a salad? A Caprese Stacked Salad would be beautiful with it’s red and white colors, and the texture complimented the creamy cauliflower perfectly. And for more color and an extra tang of flavor, I finished the dish with Rosie Daley’s Pesto, thinned with some olive oil. Even with it’s Wow Factor, it’s really an easy side dish to put together at the last minute, especially when you have frozen pesto waiting for you in the freezer.
Stacked Caprese Salad
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp Pesto
- Tsp Olive oil
- 2 Medium Tomatoes 8 slices 1/4” thick
- 6 oz Mozzarella ball 6 slices 1/4” thick
Instructions
- Add pesto to a small bowl and thin with olive oil. Set aside.
- For each stack use 4 tomato slices And 3 mozzarella slices. Beginning and ending each stack with a tomato slice.Add pesto decoratively over each stack.
Nutrition
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