Skewered: A Portable Caprese Salad

[Larry Hoffman]

Has it really come to this? That's what you might be asking yourself. Really, caprese salad on a stick? Don't we have the time to just sit down and enjoy a traditional caprese at our favorite Italian restaurant or at home? Well, as you might suspect, there's a little more to the story than that.

We're having a party! We're throwing an engagement party for friends that are getting married this summer. It should be a great time, right? For sure, but, what about the food? You really can't have a party (or at least a good one) without food. Well, during the early planning for this affair I think I blurted out something like, "I'll take care of the food, no worries!". With that outburst, I officially signed myself up for "catering" duty. Oh yeah, one more thing you should know, I'm NOT a caterer!

Should be easy I thought. I can cook stuff, some pretty good stuff sometimes. It would just be a matter of sitting down and planning this thing out. What to serve and when to serve it. It sounded, so easy... I guess this is going to be the first of multiple posts on this topic.

Between my wife and I, we got the initial menu all hammered out. Since we weren't having an actual "sit down" dinner we needed dishes that could be easily managed while standing around talking (and probably holding a glass of wine). We figured we would need both hot and cold items too. Even though it wouldn't be a formal dinner, we thought we should maybe have some traditional dinner components: appetizer, salad, side, main course, dessert. It sounded logical and helped break this thing down into somewhat manageable pieces.

That's how the caprese came up. After looking through some cooking magazines for a "portable" salad idea, we ran across a couple of skewered salad dishes. A little more research revealed some great ideas for a easily edible caprese salad. Sounded ideal for our situation.

Here's what you'll need: Grape or Cherry Tomatoes Bocconcini (small mozzarella cheese balls)
Fresh Basil Leaves
Olive Oil
Balsamic Vinegar
Sea Salt
Fresh Ground Black Pepper
Wooden Skewers

How to put it together: Slide one grape tomato about 1/3 of the way down the skewer. Next roll up 1/2 of a basil leaf and slide that down next to the tomato. Finally, skewer the bocconcini. Chill for about 1 hour. For the dressing, mix equal parts olive oil and balsamic vinegar. When chilled, spoon dressing over skewers in an amount to your liking. Sprinkle with sea salt and fresh ground pepper. Garnish you plate with some of the leftover basil leaves and you're ready to go.

That's how easy that is. Obviously, these little salads are going to be perfect for the party. They can be made ahead and are easy to serve and eat.

Our menu is finished and we've been testing recipes. You'll have to wait and see what else made the cut.