A fresh summer salad

I have a new camera so I'm going to start posting a few more pictures to my blog. Baby steps -- don't expect me to photograph everything I eat like Jenna does! As much as I love reading her blog, I am not quite that brave, or diligent. Baby steps!

I was inspired to take a photo of this summer salad because it was just so pretty.

Ingredients:

• Tomatoes
• Basil
• Fresh mozzarella
• Olive oil
• Balsamic vinegar
• Coarse salt
• Cracked black pepper

It's especially great when the real homegrown tomatoes are available, but you can get by with Campari or some of the other better supermarket tomatoes until then. Fresh basil is usually available year-round but it's even better if you grow it yourself. I have a pot outside with a baby plant, but this is from the supermarket. I want to give my plant a chance to establish itself before I start harvesting.

For those following Weight Watchers, this is a great way to check off a bunch of those pesky boxes: At least a serving of veggies, maybe two. A milk serving, depending on how much mozzarella you use (1 oz = 2 pts.). Plus those two healthy oils that no one at meetings seems to know how to incorporate into their meals.

I used 1 1/2 small tomatoes for each salad, about 2 tablespoons of basil, 2 teaspoons of olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon balsamic vinegar, a heavy pinch of coarse salt and a few grinds of fresh black pepper, for a total of 5 points.

I suppose you could lighten it up with fat-free cheese but I think it would be sort of a tragedy. I had this with some grilled chicken and a couple of slices of rustic Italian bread. I like to soak up the juice from the tomatoes mixed with the oil and vinegar with the bread, so that I get every drop of that oil I counted in my points (besides, it's delicious).