Mozzarella Salad with Sun-Dried Tomatoes

This is actually a follow-up to the Bobby Flay’s Macaroni and Cheese night Dawn and I had a week or so ago. We did have a couple semi healthy items that day. This salad is from a cook book I picked up a few years ago titled, Simple but Perfect Salads. I’ve made several of their salads, all of which have been nothing short of wonderful, but both Dawn and I felt this may have been one of the best salads in the book. It’s a very simple salad, which is actually one of the reasons I chose it. The Mac & Cheese was quite involved, so we wanted our salad to be something quite simple. Let’s not waste any time, let’s get right into the recipe.

Ingredients:
A bag of mixed salad greens, such as oak leaf lettuce, baby spinach, and arugula.
A ball of smoked mozzarella cheese, cubed.

For the Dressing:
5 oz. sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil, reserve the oil from the jar
¼ cup coarsely shredded fresh basil
¼ cup coarsely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 Tbsp. capers, rinsed
1 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
1 garlic clove, coarsely chopped
Extra olive oil, if necessary
Freshly ground pepper

Put the sun-dried tomatoes, basil, parsley, capers, vinegar, and garlic in a food processor or blender. Measure the oil from the sun-dried tomatoes jar and make it up to 2/3 cup with more olive oil if necessary. Add it to the food processor or blender and process until smooth. Season to taste with pepper.

Divide the salad greens among 4 individual serving plates. Top with the cubes of mozzarella and spoon the dressing over them. Serve immediately.