basil + mozzarella + tomato pasta

my sis is the epitome of "good housekeeping."  she collects martha stewart and real simple mags.  she has a room devoted to crafting where paper, ribbon, crafting tools, and scraps of fabric are all neatly organized in their proper bins, containers, and sleeves.  she grows her own herbs and veggies.  she goes to the library and borrows cook books.  me?  i like enjoying the fruits of her labor!

so imagine my delight when she comes over with these cute pots:

the orange pot is a korean sesame leaf plant.  the leaves are very fragrant and have a distinct, slightly bitter taste.  like cilantro, most people either love it or hate it.  i hate cilantro, but i love sesame leaf!  you can use them like lettuce with korean barbecue, julienne them and mix them into a korean pancake (similar to "okonomiyaki," the japanese version that's becoming a trendy foodie item), or roll them into "kim bap" (korean version of a sushi roll). 

the yellow pot is italian basil.  it looks a little bare because i harvested a lot of the leaves for this pasta.  a basil plant is easy to care for, even for a "black thumb" like me (maybe that's why my sis chose to give this to me).  it's probably a little "over-done," but basil is so good in a caprese salad.  you don't have to add too much to the salad - just let the freshness of the basil and tomatoes come through and add the fresh mozzarella for a bit of richness.

i threw in the pasta for more substance and added a splash of lemon juice and lemon zest to brighten things up even more.  there's not much of a recipe to follow.  i just halved the tomatoes, broke up the mozzarella, tore the basil leaves and combined everything with lemon, olive oil, salt, and pepper.  i added some chopped green peppers just to add more veggies. 

ingredients:
1/3 cup of loosely packed italian basil leaves, torn
1 pint of grape tomatoes, halved
2 bocconcini balls of fresh mozzarella, broken up into small pieces
2 cups of cooked short pasta (rotini usually works best)
2 tablespoons of lemon juice
1 tablespoon of lemon zest
2-3 tablespoons of olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

how to:
mix everything in a big bowl!