Caperse Sandwich

This year we grew tomatoes from seed, and it was too hard to "kill" the extra plants that we grew.  But with 10 surviving tomato plants, we were bound to have a few tomatoes more than we could eat... So I've been trying to find creative ways to use multiple tomatoes at once. I found this recipe but it used Texas toast and blue cheese. Not being a fan of either, I made this variation.  One slice would be plenty as a side during brunch.

Ingredients

- 4 medium tomatoes (or a mix of medium and small)

- fresh mozzarella 

- 2 TBL EVOO

- 1 TBL red wine vinegar 

- handful of fresh basil

- 4 slices of sourdough bread

- butter 

- garlic powder (NOT garlic salt)

- balsamic vinegar

1. Slice tomatoes into 1/4" thick slices. If you have small tomatoes, just slice those in half. Slice the mozzarella into 1/4" thick slices.

2. Roughly chop the basil. In a bowl, mix the basil, evoo and red wine vinegar. Gently mix the tomatoes into the vinegarette. Add a little s&p if you'd like. (Side note: making your own vinegarette is not only cheaper, it's healthier because you can actually pronounce the names of the ingredients going in)

3. Toast the bread. Smear a little butter and add a dash of garlic powder.

4. Layer the mozzarella and tomatoes on top of the bread. If you'd like, drizzle a little balsamic vinegar on top. Garnish with a basil leaf or two and serve. 

Cooking notes:

The more colors of tomato you use, the more interesting it looks on a plate. 

I used fig balsamic vinegar because it adds a little sweetness to an otherwise savory dish. 

The original recipe used a blue cheese vinegarette with crumbled blue cheese mixed in. Since I don't like blue cheese and had some fresh mozzarella I needed to use, I used that instead.