My turn: Tomato salad fast, healthy

With farmers markets starting to sell home-grown tomatoes and basil, I had just the opportunity to try a healthy recipe with them.

“Mozzarella and Tomato Salad” comes from Roosevelt County Extension Home Economist Connie Moyer’s cookbook “Fast and Fabulous.”

My work schedule often makes getting to the Portales Farmers Market at 5 p.m. rather difficult, but my co-worker Victoria kindly picked up basil and tomatoes for me when she went not too long ago. (You’d better get there early if you want tomatoes — we’ve found they go really fast.)

A tomato-lover, Victoria sampled this salad and rated it highly.

Mozzarella and tomato Salad

• 8 tomatoes, chopped

• 1/2 cup olive oil

• Pepper to taste

• 1 package (16 ounces) grated mozzarella cheese

• 1 cup fresh basil, torn

Combine all ingredients in a large serving bowl; toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes before serving.

Makes 8 servings.

The recipe is simple. It also has nutrients and cancer-fighting properties from the tomatoes along with healthy fat from the olive oil. I used a combination of regular and cherry tomatoes, which seemed to work just fine.