Summer has officially begun. Both kids are out of school and if it wasn't for my wife's love of scheduling and structure, I think I might have ended up a little crazy by the time September comes.
Sometimes the kids being at home can be a benefit though, like being my model for the picture below (how cute can freckles and a sunburned nose get?) and having them help me pick some fruit from our tree for this rad and easy salad. Kid help comes at a price with the wages being paid in cotton balls.
Each one is worth a quarter and the mason jar is filling up fast. I must hold up my hands and confess though, the inspiration for this salad came from a recent trip to my local Whole Foods.
After tasting a sample of a similar salad, I knew I had to recreate it and after a few ingredient switch-outs this was the end result.
Juicy ripe nectaplums and buckled Heirloom tomatoes are the base for this salad. Along with some mini mozzarella balls, red onion and purple basil, everything is tossed in a balsamic and olive oil dressing.
I'm all over sweet and savory fruit salads in the summer because sometimes green leaves can become a little old-school after a while. Let's back up and talk nectaplums.
A cross-breed between the nectarine and a plum that's juicy and deep red this fruit produces like crazy every year for me from our tree. Heirloom tomatoes are always fun to use because of the weird shapes you can find, but once you taste a regular tomato against an heirloom you'll notice the difference right off the bat.
If you make this salad, replacing the purple basil with everyday green shouldn't be an issue, and if you can't find nectaplums use peaches but try and stick to the heirloom tomato because of that awesome flavor!
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