September Salad: Tomato, Mozzarella, and Avocado

We often think of tomatoes as a summer pleasure, but the reality is that fresh tomatoes are a LATE-summer pleasure, meaning right up through the equinox in September or until the frost has come to blacken our little summer hearts. (OK, can you tell I prefer summer to autumn? Although, I must admit, the changing trees are starting to look lovely.) Everyone has heard of tomato-mozzarella salad, which is ubiquitous on menus everywhere now. But I happened to notice this year that at the same time the tomatoes are truly ripe, so are the organic avocados. Now, you can get avocados almost year-round, but those dark-skinned creamy ones that are perfectly ripe and not filled with brown spots seem to appear in my supermarket in September. So I put this salad together (and I am sure I am not the first), and it is like tasting the last bit of summer -- sweet, savory, soft, and slightly sad, but so delicious. And if you use really good olive oil, then it's even better. Simple ingredients, easy to make, and perfectly, wonderfully yummy.

Tomato, Mozzarella, and Avocado Salad

1 large round of fresh Mozzarella cheese (organic if you can find it)

2 large tomatoes

1 avocado

¼ cup really good organic olive oil

Salt

Options: Add chopped fresh herbs like basil, thinly sliced red onion, fresh ground pepper, microgreens, or edible flower petals.

1. Slice the mozzarella and fan out slices on a platter or a plate.
2. Slice the tomatoes and layer on cheese slices.
3. Slice the avocado and layer on top of that.
4. Drizzle liberally with really good olive oil.
5. Sprinkle generously with salt.
6. Garnish with any of the options listed above, as desired.
7. Do the dishes because there won't be anything left.

For more from Maria Rodale, go to www.mariasfarmcountrykitchen.com.