ESPERONZA RESORT AND SALAD

Well, I don't know if its hot where you are but it is unbelievably hot here!!  Its not just hot but it is major humid.  Don't want to be outside but just for a minute. Plants are loving it........can almost watch them grow!  So my mind wanders to the ocean and swimming pools.........I remember a day that a dear friend Debra, invited some of us out to the resort in Cabo San Lucas, Mx where she worked, Esperonza.  We were all in the pool and it had a wonderful swim-up bar.......we sat in the pool at the bar and ordered lunch.  They served the most delightful salad that I ran right home and copied and have served it many times since.  It is so simple but a real memory.

I call it My Esperonza Salad.  Take a baguette and cut it into about 1" squares.  Brown those squares in olive oil.......make them nice and crispy.  Now you need some basil pesto.........I make my own because I grow so much basil........but you may use the kind you buy in the store. Then roughly chop a several tomatoes in large chunks.  This is basically it.............Just toss your tomatoes with the basil pesto and squares of browned baguette and sprinkle the whole thing with fresh Parmesan.  I like to make little shavings of Parmesan with my carrot peeler and sprinkle those on top.........That's it.........simple but a memory.