Warm weather, cool food. We are in the heat of the summer – one of the hottest on record for our little town – so other than ice cream and watermelon, here are a few recipes to keep you and the kitchen from heating up.

While perusing Taste of Home magazine this week, I saw a nifty, quick little salad recipe that would be great served alongside some grilled chops and corn-on-the-cob.

It captured my attention because it happens to be one of my favorite types of salad – “Caprese-style.”

No, that’s not a word, and more than likely, it could not even qualify for being a real descriptive term. However, it serves the purpose – you understand the general taste.

I was going to give you a recipe for making your own fresh mozzarella cheese, but then I decided if I did this recipe would no longer be quick and nifty.

So, I am just going to share with you a few things about the cheese that maybe you don’t know. (Going to the store for fresh mozzarella – much easier.)

Facts about Mozzarella:

• Bartolomeo Scappi first discovered the word “mozzarella” in 1570 in a cookbook.

• Mozzarella is often rolled up into balls of 80 to 100 grams. A 100-gram ball of Mozzarella cheese contains 22 grams of protein and 22 grams of fat.

• Mozzarella with low moisture content can be refrigerated for up to one month before it starts turning bad.

• Mozzarella is better for use on lasagna when it has been partially dried.

• Mozzarella contains high amounts of moisture, so it’s important that it’s eaten fairly quickly after it’s made.

• Mozzarella is produced from milk obtained through cows or water buffalo. It originated in Italy.

• In general, the color of fresh mozzarella is white, but it might occasionally be slightly yellow, depending on the animal’s diet.

What we don’t know for sure: Legend has it mozzarella was first made when cheese curds accidently fell into a pail of hot water in a cheese factory near Naples, and soon thereafter the first pizza was made using the newly found cheese.

What we do know for sure: Mozzarella was first made in Italy near Naples from the rich milk of water buffalos.

The story goes that Antony and Cleopatra fell in love and spent many idyllic hours cruising the Nile on the barges pulled by water buffalo, eating sumptuous meals and feasting on cheese made from the milk of the water buffalo.

The Egyptians, seeing the passion between the two, came to regard the protein and vitamin rich cheese as a prime motivator in this mad affair.

Antony became such a lover of the cheese he sent water buffalo back to Rome as a gift to Caesar, with instructions on how to make the milk into mozzarella.

Overnight, the cheese became a staple of the Roman diet and all of Southern Italy.

The breeding of the water buffalo became a passion in its own right in the area between Rome and Naples.

Over the centuries, the wholesomeness of the produce sustained the Italian people and could not be duplicated anywhere else.

The story above sounds pretty “cheesy,” don’t you think?

Anyway, today, the best and most highly prized artisanal produced buffalo mozzarella is still found south of Naples near Battipaglia and Caserta.

This recipe is a little from the magazine and a little from me, meaning I modified it somewhat to better suit my taste. Hope you enjoy! It’s yummy!