Caprese Salad with Vinegar Meringue: Surprising texture, familiar taste

I admit it, I like to play with food.

Not push it around my plate and build a fort from the peas...that would be rude. I like to put ingredients together in weird ways. I like to make recipes with unexpected textures or textures with unexpected flavors. 

I like to play with food before it gets to my plate.

When molecular gastronomy came to prominence in the late 1980s or early 1990s, I thought "That looks fun!" Of course, it's not as easy as it looks. It's chemistry. Science. And, it's carefully executed art.

I moved through that phase, making mango caviar and arugula spaghetti, I deconstructed a key lime pie, I dehydrated peanut butter (you can buy that in a jar these days)...you get the picture. 

This love of playing with my food has not entirely gone away. For lunch today, I wanted to have a caprese salad. But what if I made the dressing in the form of a meringue...that would be cool. Right?

So, here's what I ended up with. It is absolutely delicious, but the texture is unexpected. Plus, I got to eat some of the bounty from my gardens (basil and tomatoes). This isn't an every day recipe, but it's a lot of fun when you want something  different.

Caprese Salad with Vinegar Meringue

Makes 9 servings 

For meringues
4 egg whites
1/4 cup of salt
2 tablespoons of white balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon of cream of tartar
1 teaspoon of flour
For salad
18 small chunks of mozzarella cheese
9 cherry tomatoes
9 fresh basil leaves

Preheat your oven to 300° F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Put the egg whites and the balsamic vinegar in a stand mixer and mix on high until soft peaks are formed.
When you have peaks, add the cream of tartar and salt. Keep mixing on high until you get stiff peaks.
Turn the mixer to low and add the flour. Mix until the flour is mixed in.
Make nine 2 inch circles of meringue on your baking sheet.
Bake the meringues for at least 30 minutes.
They're done when they are solid and can be peeled easily from the paper.
Arrange the salad ingredients around or on top of the meringue. Use your imagination. 




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