Different Kind of Snack

Snacking is unavoidable for me. I work from home so I find myself in the kitchen every couple of hours. Even when I’m not at home, I usually pick up something small or carry fruit with me in case I feel a snack attack approaching. Supposedly this is a good habit, right? Don’t doctors nowadays say that you should eat smaller meals more often throughout the day? I apparently am following doctorly advice without trying. Since I would be a cow if I indulged in regular snack food, I try to at least eat healthy snacks. Never mind the sugar gluttony I talked about yesterday – those are delicious exceptions.

So my usual snacks consist of either fresh fruit, plain or as a fruit salad, or vegetable salads such as the tomato & mozzarella salad described below. If fruits and veggies are just not cutting it, I serve up a smorgasbord of cheese, salami or prosciutto, grapes or cherry tomatoes and maybe some baguette slices. I usually have everything except the bread on hand. On a lazy evening, this platter turns into dinner, which is just fine with my husband.

Today’s snack was my tomato & mozzarella salad, which is a spin on a traditional Caprese salad. The recipe I’ve provided here should be enough as a snack for four people, although these are rough amounts because it depends how much you really want to snack. Feel free to add or take away as you see fit.

Today I had one large tomato and one equal-sized ball of fresh mozzarella, so my portion was smaller. Also, didn’t have any herbs on hand other than parsley, which I don’t think matches well with this, so I omitted the herbs. I usually have dried dill in my pantry, but most Caprese salads are made with fresh basil. If you have that, that’s of course fine too. This is a delicious, with or without herbs. Next time you are looking to snack, try this without feeling like your snack is attacking you and your butt.

Serves 4 (or 2 as a light lunch/dinner)

4 ripe tomatoes, sliced

8 slices of fresh mozzarella

1 tsp of dill (fresh or dried)

2 tbsp of olive oil

2 tsp of salt

Half a lemon

Arrange the sliced tomatoes and mozzarella on a plate, alternating the tomatoes and mozzarella. Sprinkle half of the salt and all of the dill on the salad. Squeeze the lemon over the salad and drizzle with oil. Finally sprinkle the remaining salt over the salad and let it sit at room temperature for 10 minutes before serving.