My Absolute Favorite Salad EVER

In honor of my love of the South of France, I bring you my Absolute Favorite Salad EVER. Growing up in the Cote D'Azur meant that we were always surrounded by great produce: fish fresh from the Mediterranean sea, figs plucked from the neighbor's tree, massive amounts of basil from our garden, but most importantly, the juiciest tomatoes you could imagine bought from a guy's driveway stall. We called him Mr. Tomate.

We hardly ever drove by Mr. Tomate's house without buying his tomatoes and this meant that in the summer we probably ate our weight in Tomato and Mozzarella salad, but once we moved back to the states (more specifically MICHIGAN), where you can't find such tomatoes, we had to find an alternative. In the States I really only eat grape or cherry tomatoes since these are the closest approximation to the sweetness of those from Mr. Tomate's stall. Although I still use Mozzarella from time to time, the good stuff can be expensive so I go for Feta. And to round it out we add an avocado and a piece of toasted whole wheat bread. I often have this for dinner or bring it to the office for lunch since it will improve with a couple hours in the fridge. It just doesn't get more delicious and healthy than this!

But first- for those who don't know how to effectively cut open an avocado here's how I do it:

Simply cut around the pit from top to bottom. Twist it open. The pit will be lodged in one side, so the best way to get it out is to whack a knife into it's center, twist the pit and pull it out. To get the pit off of the knife, I usually whack the knife onto the edge of the garbage, dislodging the pit into the garbage can. Now you can scoop out the flesh with a spoon or add some salad dressing and enjoy!

My Favorite Salad EVER

• 1 Barquette of Cherry or Grape tomatoes
• 1 Avocado
• Feta or Mozzarella
• 1 piece of toasted whole wheat bread
• Sea salt and ground pepper
• Balsamic Glaze
• Balsamic Vinegar
• Olive Oil
  

To begin just cut all your tomatoes in half and throw them in a large serving dish.

Add in your avocado, cheese and torn up piece of toast. Add in the salt and pepper to taste.

For the dressing I start with the glaze and just squeeze in enough to go around the bowl twice, quickly. Next I add a splash of the Balsamic Vinegar (as the glaze is too sweet on its own). Finish it off with about 2 glugs of olive oil. Remember- whatever you do, be careful with your glugs and bottle squeezes! It's so easy to ruin a salad with too much dressing.

And if you can believe it- this salad tastes even better outdoors.