Caprese Salad Deluxe (plus low-carb notes)

Low-carb notes follow this scintillating ($10 word!) recipe for embellishing a traditional summer salad.

A full meal for one. Caprese salad decked out with fresh peppers, sweet onions, and lots of cheese.

PK has been away for a few days and I lived it up, eating fresh from the garden and not cooking much. Not that he wouldn't be fine with a big salad for dinner, which we have at least once a week year around. I predict  he'll be jealous of this beefed up, so to speak, super summer salad and dang! I'll have to make it again.

INGREDIENTS - This is for one person for a satisfying meal, no other dishes. It would be sufficient for two-four as a starter for a dinner with more courses.

 One large fresh tomato, preferably a heritage type. This is a Brandywine, one of the first of the season. If your tomatoes aren't this big, use two. Or three.

One fresh large sweet green/red pepper A bell pepper would work, and so would a more picante variety.

One quarter SWEET onion, such as a Walla Walla. Don't use a regular cooking onion.

Olive oil, generously administered

Generous handful of fresh basil

One small ball of fresh mozzarella cheese

A couple ounces of feta or other cheese, crumbled. I used a goat/sheep cheese combo. Delicious.

Pepper flakes to taste

Freshly ground pepper to taste

Drizzle of balsamic vinegar

Smoked salt to taste

Slice the tomato and place in a colander for a few minutes to drain some of the juice. Most Caprese salad recipes call for large round slices of tomatoes, but this one is different. Bite-sized pieces are best. 

Arrange tomato pieces on a plate and sprinkle with smoked salt. Yes, smoked! In the absence of such a luxury, just use sea salt or lemon-flavored salt or something other than just plain table salt. Drizzle on a bit of balsamic vinegar. Reduced balsamic would be best, but I didn't have any. Don't overdo it with the vinegar. A tablespoon or two.

Slice the onion and pepper. Slice the fresh mozzarella and crumble the feta, if using. Tear the basil

Assemble veggies on a pretty plate. 

Add the cheeses. Add the basil.(missing from this photo. See photo of complete salad at the top.) Drizzle with olive oil, and don't worry about using too much. I'd say at least a quarter cup. 

I ate the whole thing! And after I took this photo, I drained the smoky tomato juices right into my eager upturned mouth.  A small piece of dark chocolate and a nice glass of pinotage later, I'm ready for anything.
 Which will be going to bed with a book. Sigh.

Here they are! The low-carb notes!

I'm not a scientific low-carber. I go on general principles that include:

• No bread
• No pasta

• No potatoes
• No corn or corn products
• No sugar 
• Few, if any, grains (screw the popular "healthy whole grains" theory)
• Lots of berries and green veggies and tomatoes, in season
• Meats 
• Cheeses
• Fats (the good ones, including coconut, flax, and olive oils) 
• Nuts and seeds

So. Even though I have these so-called principles, I am a human being with many flaws and weaknesses and also potatoes and corn in the garden. When I say "no potatoes, no corn" I am not necessarily thinking of what's growing within striking distance.

 A few days ago, I was forced to harvest all the corn because it was ready. 

So beautiful and innocent looking, that corn five minutes off the stalk. 

Then I had to process and freeze it. PK is out of town, remember? That entailed blanching, cooling, then cutting the kernels off the cob. In so doing, I happened to finish off the corn on many cobs. I enjoyed this very much. Smack, smack. 

 The same day, I had for dinner leftovers that included fried veggies including potatoes.

A couple days later, I stepped onto the scale. Four pounds. Unbelievable. I am, as I already knew, a carb-sensitive person. PK is not carb sensitive in that he does not gain weight when he gets a big hit in a scone or doughnut or full-sugar piece of pie. On the other hand, he gets the shakes about an hour later and feels like crap. So, in his own way, he is carb sensitive. The potatoes and corn don't seem to bother him.  I really don't want to gain weight, so I'm going to have to forego those delicious spuds and corn, for the most part. Moderation and discipline. Why do we grow corn and potatoes? Ask PK. That skinny corn-and-potato-loving bastard.