By Week 435. Summer 2024. I am 41 years old and standing in my kitchen — the Bench house kitchen, the one that held cancer and divorce and cinnamon rolls — and the stove is on and something is cooking and the house smells like grilled food and garden herbs and this is my life. This is the life I built.
The clinic was busy this week — spring puppies and summer emergencies and the constant, comforting cycle of animals who need care and humans who love them enough to bring them in.
Mason is 13 and navigating middle school with the quiet competence that has always been his way — focused, kind, certain of who he is in a way that took me thirty years to achieve.
Lily is 11 and riding horses with the fearlessness of someone who has never considered the possibility of falling.
I made gazpacho this week. The food continues. The food always continues. It is the thread that connects every week to every other week, every year to every other year, every version of me to every other version — the woman on the kitchen floor, the woman at the chemo recliner, the woman at the grill, the woman at the outdoor table under the string lights. All of them, connected by the food they made with their hands. All of them, me.
Gazpacho week meant the garden was finally giving — and after I’d used the tomatoes for the cold soup, I still had more sitting on the counter, warm from the afternoon sun, too good to waste. A caprese salad is what I make when I want something that tastes exactly like where I am right now: summer, this kitchen, this life I built. No heat required, no fuss — just the kind of food that asks you to slow down and notice how well things have turned out.
Easy Caprese Salad
Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 0 minutes | Total Time: 10 minutes | Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 3 large ripe tomatoes, sliced 1/4 inch thick
- 8 oz fresh whole-milk mozzarella, sliced 1/4 inch thick
- 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon balsamic glaze (or aged balsamic vinegar)
- 1/4 teaspoon flaky sea salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Arrange the base. On a large serving platter or plate, alternate slices of tomato and fresh mozzarella, overlapping them slightly in a single layer.
- Add the basil. Tuck whole fresh basil leaves between the tomato and mozzarella slices, or scatter them over the top.
- Dress the salad. Drizzle the olive oil evenly over the entire platter, followed by the balsamic glaze.
- Season and serve. Sprinkle with flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Serve immediately at room temperature for the best flavor.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 220 | Protein: 11g | Fat: 17g | Carbs: 6g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 310mg