There is a distracting force in my home – and many homes with boys across America (Carson Daily even mentioned it on the Today show) – and it’s called Fortnite. It’s a survival video game (with no blood or gory killing, I’m compelled to mention) where characters fight and build forts and have goofy dances. I limit the boys to 30 minutes a day once their chores and reading are done, but still, it’s hard to pull a boy away when another brother is playing to help me make a salad.

It’s good for boys to help their mom in the kitchen though, so I called in Rex, who picked the basil from our garden, and stirred in the ingredients for one of my favorite summer salads:

Tomato, basil, and mozzarella salad. The tomatoes came from our garden and sister-in-law Mary’s garden. Oh, garden tomatoes!

Here’s what it includes:

A bowl full of cubed tomatoes

6-8 ripped basil leaves (I heard ripping makes them more fragrant than cutting)

Mozzarella (I use the handy little balls called pearls)

¼ cup olive oil

¼ cup balsamic vinaigrette or salad dressing

Salt and pepper to taste

You can’t make a fresher tasting summer salad… Thanks, Rex!