Red, White, and Blue: 4th of July Caprese Salad with Tutorial

I love celebrating the Fourth of July with friends and family. Our city has a parade on main street that seems to bring the whole community together. My kids often are in the parade with their band or sports team, and I love watching all the various floats and people as they go by. Every year after the parade, we walk over to our friend’s house for an afternoon of BBQ and fun.

I always bring some sort of food item and last year I brought a caprese salad which was a huge hit.

If you have plans to gather with others this Fourth of July, here is an idea for a super simple and festive appetizer/side dish.

You will need:

Mozzarella cheese. I bought balls but ended up cutting them so a block of mozzarella would be perfect. You want to be able to cut slices from the block to then cut out little stars with a cookie cutter.
Star cookie cutter (small). Optional but makes it extra cute and festive if you top this dish with white stars.
Blueberries. About one cup
Basil. About ½ cup
Tomatoes. About one cup. You can cut up larger tomatoes or buy small ones. I love the tiny “sprinkle” ones from Trader Joes.
Salt and pepper
Olive Oil. I ran out (somehow!) but would suggest about one tablespoon.
Balsamic Glaze. I used a cherry balsamic glaze, delicious. Measure with your heart.

Steps:

Wash and dry all ingredients, as appropriate.

Using your cookie cutter, cut out a few stars. Set aside.

Cut up tomatoes if using whole tomatoes and mozzarella, depending on your preferred size for the dish.

Cut up basil, I do a rough chop.

Gently mix all ingredients into a bowl; adding the balsamic glaze last or maybe when you arrive to your destination.

Place stars on top of the dish.

Watch the video tutorial with step-by-step instructions!

Happy Fourth of July!