By May and everything is blooming. I planted the vegetable garden this week — tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, three kinds of beans, basil, two cucumber plants that will produce approximately one million cucumbers whether I want that or not. Gardening and cooking are the same act in different phases and I've always loved both, though I'm better at cooking than growing and every year the zucchini humbles me.
Mother's Day was Sunday. Gary and the kids made breakfast — the annual production that I love enormously because it's earnest and slightly chaotic and the eggs were a little overcooked but the intention was so large it didn't matter. Noah drew me a card that said "Best Mom in the Kitchen and Also the World" which is both sweet and reveals a lot about his understanding of my defining characteristic.
I turned 37 this month. May 15th. I made myself a carrot cake, which has been my birthday cake since I was seven — my grandmother's recipe, cream cheese frosting, walnuts in the batter. Gary put thirty-seven candles on it and it was briefly alarming from a fire safety standpoint. The kids sang loudly and badly and I blew them all out in two breaths and made a wish I'm keeping to myself.
The Jefferson Elementary series is at session three. We did a class on batch cooking Sunday: making a big grain, a big protein, a big vegetable all at once, then mixing and matching through the week. Three participants said afterward that it had completely changed how they thought about Sunday. That's a small revolution and I'll take it.
I planted the basil and the tomatoes within two feet of each other this year, same as always, because I already know exactly what they’re going to become. There’s something deeply satisfying about a Caprese salad when you’ve got your hands in the dirt that morning — it’s the whole point of a garden made into one plate, no fuss, no distraction, just the ingredients being exactly what they are. It felt right for a month this full: new candles on a cake, a card from Noah, thirty-seven years of knowing what I love.
Caprese Salad
Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 0 minutes | Total Time: 10 minutes | Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 3 large ripe tomatoes, sliced 1/4 inch thick
- 8 oz fresh whole-milk mozzarella, sliced 1/4 inch thick
- 1/3 cup fresh basil leaves
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon balsamic glaze
- 1/2 teaspoon flaky sea salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
Instructions
- Arrange the base. On a large serving platter, alternate slices of tomato and mozzarella in an overlapping pattern, fanning them out in a single layer.
- Add the basil. Tuck whole fresh basil leaves between the tomato and mozzarella slices, or tear larger leaves and scatter them over the top.
- Dress and season. Drizzle the olive oil evenly over the entire platter, then drizzle the balsamic glaze in a thin stream. Finish with flaky sea salt and cracked black pepper.
- Serve immediately. Caprese is best served right away at room temperature so the mozzarella stays soft and the tomatoes don’t weep. Serve with crusty bread if desired.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 265 | Protein: 13g | Fat: 20g | Carbs: 7g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 390mg