Antipasto

Vegan Style:

Ripe (but firm) slicing tomatoes
Salad cucumbers
Red or sweet (Vidalia/Mollala type) onion(s)
Extra virgin olive oil
Balsamic Vinegar
Chopped or sliced fresh basil leaves or dried if fresh not
available
Sea salt and ground black pepper to taste

All quantities depend on the size of the plate/platter you
are using, number of people you are serving and personal
taste. This is a simple, throw together rustic looking dish
and should not be taken too seriously. A great dish to take
to a barbecue or picnic or to serve in any warm weather
setting with a good wine and chewy bread.

Slice the tomatoes and cucumber (on a slant) about 1/4 inch
thick discard the ends (tomato ends can be diced and added
to other things). Do not peel the cucumber unless you just
cannot stand them any other way because the dark green
really looks good in this dish. Slice the onions as thick
or slightly thinner than 1/4 inch. Arrange in a circle
around a plate or platter, alternating them - tomato,
cucumber, onion, tomato cucumber, onion . . . making sure
each veg slice shows. To cut back on the sometimes strong
flavor and odor of red onion I break up the onion rings and
put only a few rings between the other vegetables. Start on
the outside and spiraling them to the center of the dish.
You can also do this on a square or oblong plate/platter.
For the former make rows of alternating slices. Drizzle
olive oil then balsamic vinegar over the vegetables.
Sprinkle the basil leaves over the vegetables then sprinkle
with sea salt and ground black pepper to taste. You can
also mix the last five ingredients into a dressing to
drizzle. For added eye appeal a few whole fresh basil
leaves or other fresh green herb sprigs can be tossed on
before serving. Use a serving fork to serve.

Non-vegan style:
Alternately add sliced mozzarella to the mix. Fresh water
packed mozzarella can sometimes be found in disk shaped
pieces that you can squash with the heel of your hand to
better match the tomato and onion slices. It can also be
found in ball and log shapes (harder to slice). Regular
mozzarella works better for slicing.

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