The title of this recipe says it all. It's an easy chopped salad using a lot of great summer garden produce, with the capers adding a little salty kick to the mix. It's a salad you really can't go wrong with (you can almost never go wrong mixing mozzarella cheese with tomatoes, basil and garlic, period) -- so feel free to eyeball how much of each ingredient you want.

In case you need reminding, here are the ingredients:

Mozzarella (a big ball of the soft mozzarella works best)
Basil
Onions (red or white)
Garlic
Capers
Tomatoes
Balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil

The capers that I used when I made this salad were sent from a friend in Italy and heavily salted so I first rinsed them thoroughly -- letting them soak and changing the water a few times. This step can probably be skipped depending on how you feel about the brine your capers are in.

I then chopped the onion, garlic, basil and mozzarella cheese and put them all in a bowl to marinate in balsamic vinegar and a little olive oil.

Then I chopped the tomatoes and strained and patted them with a paper towel to get rid of the excess water. I put the tomatoes into a separate container and into the refrigerator, then added the capers to the marinating onion, garlic, basil and mozzarella and put them into the refrigerator as well.

When it was time to serve I added the tomatoes to the marinating mix for what was now a chopped tomato, onion, garlic, basil, caper, mozzarella salad.  Voila! or -- since this is really an Italian salad -- Ecco!

Carrot greens are pretty tough customers, and that reputation is well earned—you’ll be giving your jaw a workout if you try to chew them straight off the carrot. They’re often tossed into a juicer as a “why not” ingredient for something like carrot/apple juice, and they’re definitely overlooked as a primary component in salads.

With some preparation though, they make an excellent addition to a summer salad, especially after you’ve used all your carrots in other dishes. I add carrot greens to raw fennel, diced onion, chopped basil, halved grape tomatoes, and diced feta cheese, tossed with a citrus-infused olive oil, and an herb-infused balsamic.

The anise flavor of the fennel combines nicely with the mild, grassy sweetness of the carrot greens. The onions add an aromatic bite, the feta adds a salty, creamy component, and the grape tomatoes add a bit of acid. It’s a tasty balance of flavors.

Just like radish greens, you want to soak and spin the carrot greens before chopping to remove all the dirt present. Also, chopping the carrot greens takes a bit of effort. You want them to resemble finely chopped dill when you’re done. I chop the fennel stalks and the carrot greens at the same time so they have a similar consistency.