Tomatoes and Basil with Balsamic and Mozzarella

I love summertime because I can consume a decent amount of food just by walking into my own back yard. Especially tomatoes. I plant four to six plants every year (usually losing two when my derpy dogs lay on top of them or dig them up) and so it's nonstop TomatoPalooza out there. I also do basil, onions, and plenty of other stuff, so it's not hard for me to build an entire meal out of things I can go pick fifteen feet from my back door.

TOMATOES AND BASIL WITH BALSAMIC AND MOZZARELLA 

This is a super easy salad you can bang together in about five minutes, chill in the fridge while you relax, and whip out at dinner time to impress your friends. It's not only tasty, IT LOOKS PRETTY. You'll need:

5 - 6 Roma tomatoes, chopped into chunks
1/2 an onion, diced
5 - 6 leaves fresh basil, chopped
3 oz. Mozzarella cheese, chopped into little pieces
A pinch of salt
A pinch of black pepper

Mix all of these together in a bowl, and then drizzle with:

2 tsp. Balsamic vinegar**
2 tsp. olive oil

Blend it all together so everything is coated in the olive oil and Balsamic, and then chill for about half an hour.

The best part about this? It tastes EVEN BETTER the next day after the Balsamic has had time to soak into the Mozzarella cheese!

** Super important note here about the use of Balsamic vinegar: There's a lot of controversy over whether or not vinegar is safe for people on a gluten free diet. Jane Anderson, About.com's Guide to Celiac Disease and Gluten Sensitivity, says, "Balsamic vinegar starts out as grapes and is aged in casks made from wood. There's a very small possibility that the paste used to seal those casks (generally wheat or rye flour) could contaminate a batch of balsamic vinegar, but only those most sensitive to trace gluten would notice. Otherwise, balsamic vinegar should be safe on the gluten-free diet." The bottom line here is if you've used it and had a negative reaction, DON'T use it again.

Also: If you type the word "tomatoes" a bunch of times it just looks like you've spelled it wrong.