The Wizard's Magical Use For Tomatoes #1

Don't you just love it when your summer garden is overflowing with big beautiful ripe tomatoes? Of course, if you are like this Wizard, it is both a blessing and curse. I hate wasting anything that grows out of my garden and there are only so many bags of tomatoes you can hand off to your family and friends. This also requires creativity on serving these items to your family. Sure, there are tomatoes in our omelets, on our sandwiches and burgers, in  our sauces etc. The Monkeys are less than thrilled now to pick a red juicy tomato which once brought them shrieks of joy as they watched them grow. Well one way I kind of got them excited to eat a tomato again was making a Tomato and Mozzarella Salad. To jazz things up a bit I threw in basil (if you have kids I hope you can relate that most things green come with great resentment on the part of the child so the basil was left of their salad). To make it even better I added my Wizardly Apple Cider Vinegar Dressing to it and shazam...everyone was eating tomatoes again without complaining! It was magical...but that is what I do since I am a Wizard after all.

TOMATO AND MOZZARELLA SALAD WITH APPLE CIDER VINEGAR DRESSING

This is really so easy and simple to make but the addition of cheese with the tomatoes seemed to do the trick to get the Monkeys interested in eating tomatoes again.

INGREDIENTS:
1-2 large beefsteak tomatoes (really any type of tomato would do)
Fresh Mozzarella Cheese
Fresh Basil
Salt and Pepper to taste
Wizardly Apple Cider Vinegar Dressing (recipe below)

Slice the tomatoes and cheese. Tear the fresh basil off of the stems and layer all three on a serving plate. Season with salt and fresh ground pepper. Next drizzle Apple Cider Vinegar Dressing over the top and you instantly have yourself a delicious salad to go with any meal!

WIZARDLY APPLE CIDER VINEGAR DRESSING

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup Olive Oil (I use Extra-Virgin)

1 cup Raw Unfiltered Apple Cider Vinegar (I use Bragg Organic)

2 Tbsp Honey

1/2 tsp Dried Parsley

2 tsp Garlic Powder

2 Tbsp Water

Pinch of Pepper

1/2 tsp of salt (I use sea salt)

Once again I turn to my canning jars for my dressings. To make this potion I throw it all in the jar, replace the lid and shake shake shake. That's it. Very simple. Now I know you should probably take the time to emulsify the dressing to reduce separation between oil and vinegar, however this Wizard is usually chasing an almost one year old around the house so where I can take short cuts, I do! It keeps in the fridge beautifully and each time we go to use it, I simply shake.