Erin and I spend part of our week bouncing around town for lunch meetings and events, so when we are working from our co-working space at my house, I try my best to make a healthy lunch. Recently I picked up a bunch of orange and red cherry tomatoes at the Green City Market, and roasted them in olive oil and basil, and used them to create this Roasted Tomato and Arugula Caprese Salad.
My favorite thing about this salad is that the tomato juice acts as the dressing. As the tomatoes cook their juice mixes with the olive oil, basil, salt, and pepper creating a simple yet flavorful dressing. You can serve this salad with warm tomatoes, or you can chill them. When I made this salad I roasted the tomatoes the day before, then I gave Erin the option of heating the tomatoes up, or adding them to the salad chilled. It was about 90 degrees and the cool tomatoes were perfectly refreshing.
I tend to cook for two people at a time, so I am sharing the portions to serve two people below, but this recipe is easily scalable and would an hassle free contribution to a dinner party.
Ingredients
- 2 cups Cherry or Grape Tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon Olive Oil
- Salt and Pepper
- ½ teaspoon chopped Basil
- 2 cups Arugula
- Fresh Mozzarella Balls
Instructions
- Heat your oven to 350 degrees. Slice the tomatoes in half, and place then on a baking sheet inside facing up. Drizzle with the olive oil, and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and the basil. Let roast in the oven for 15-20 minutes, until soft.
- If you are not preparing this salad right away, pour the tomatoes and all of the juice in a container and keep in the fridge.
- To assemble the salad, start by dividing the arugula on two plates, top with some mozzarella and the tomatoes. Spoon any extra juice from the tomatoes over the greens.
