Caprese Bites

I can't even tell you how much I love these.

Pop the one bite wonders into your mouth and enjoy the burst of savory summer freshness.
They are nothing more than a freshly-picked (from my neighbor's garden) tomato, a square of fresh mozzarella cheese and a sprig of my own basil with a sweet balsamic drizzle.

What a perfect appetizer for a summer deck party.

 Even though it was just me and DH last night, it was worth the little effort to make this prelude to our  dinner of grilled chicken and pasta salad.

I happen to love this brand of balsamic vinaigrette on these mini morsels:

but you can use any other dressing you like.

For the full experience, you really do need to use fresh mozzarella cheese, which is a delicate-flavored soft cheese and comes in a round shape like this:

You can buy it in most supermarkets.  Dedicated turophiles make their own. But I have found that the supermarket stuff is just fine for those of us who do not have the time (nor the desire) to go to such lengths. 

Turophile:  Turo is derived from tyro, the Greek word for cheese, and, of course, -phile means "lover of."   So a turophile is a lover of cheese.  This is my new vocabulary word of the day. :)