Tomato salad and how simple can sometimes be the best thing
The first time I heard the word heirloom tomatoes I was a little bit baffled. Heirloom tomatoes? Huh? In the meantime it has become more or less a common term. Certainly among anyone interested in food and in short it kind of means that it’s a forgotten tomato. Old varieties that aren’t produced in such big numbers. Usually they come in all kinds of shapes and sizes and the weirder the better. The taste can vary from really sweet to sour or even salty. Fresh of meaty. The term heirloom is now used by everyone and his dog which also means that it is hard to know if it really is what they say it is, or just another way to decieve the poor customer. And to be honest; you can tell me anything really. I don’t know the difference between a real heirloom tomato or an imposter. Because let’s face it; if the flavor is good, the flavor is good!
Anyway; I love experimenting with all different kinds of tomatoes in my salads. Using different colors and different sizes and shapes gives the salad something interesting plus the flavors are much more interesting. The plain old Dutch tomatoe hardly ever makes it here as I find the taste bland, watery and not interesting. There are so many delicious tomatoes out there, why settle for less (well yes they cost less but still..)
A good tomato hardly needs anything at all.
So this salad shines in it’s simplicity. It is literally tomatoes, vinaigrette and a bit of cucumber for good measure… Use whatever tomato you want; heirloom, non heirloom or whatever you have in your backyard, refrigerator or store.
Tomato salad
Ingredients
- 500 g tomatoes Use different shapes, sizes and colors to make yr salad pop
- sprig cilantro coriander, leaves only
- 1 lemon juiced
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon white balsamic vinegar or another nice vinegar
- black pepper
- seasalt
- 1/2 cucumber
Instructions
- Wash the cucumber and slice lengthwise. Chop the halves into smaller slices.
- Wash all the tomatoes and slice or chop them into various different sizes. The more shapes, sizes and colours you use the better your salad will look. Plus the tastes are all different, adding more variety to your salad too.
- Squeeze the lemon and mix with the olive oil and the vinegar to make a vinaigrette. Taste and adjust to your liking. Also adding salt and pepper to the dressing at this point.
- Put cucumber and all tomatoes into a large bowl and mix well with the dressing. Toss it around until all tomatoes are covered in a little bit of the dressing. taste again and add pepper and/or salt if needed.
- add some cilantro through the tomatoes if you like. Chives would also be really good with the tomatoes or basil ofcourse.
Disclaimer
The nutritional values above are calculated per portion. The details are based on standard nutritional tables and do not constitute a professional nutritional advice.
Beautiful colours… ‘Spring’ in a plate π
Thanks Lisa! It is right? π
Fresh and tasty! Simplicity is the key ingredient…
Cheers,
Rosa
Simple and delicious indeed!
Sometimes, simple is best! I grow my heirloom tomatoes, each year for an even better flavour! Yum Yum Yummm!
Give me a chilled cabernet rosΓ© & I will eat it in my garden, with you! π
That’s a date than Skphie! π how cool that you grow your own! I’ve only just planted my first tomatoes in the garden this week, so can’t wait to see what comes out!
I couldn’t agree more — when tomatoes are at their peak you need to add so little to them in order to turn them into an amazing meal. Tomato season is always one of my happiest food seasons each year!
For me too! Just loooove tomato season. And rhubarb season… π
I agree tomatoes do not require much added, they are that amazing! I love going to our farmers markets and grabbing different colored tomatoes! Your salad looks amazing:-) Hugs, Terra
Thanks Terra! I just wish they would be easier to find here as it usually requires quite a bit of searching for us to find them!
There’s just something so beautiful about heirloom tomatoes. For me it’s that theyre not imposters born in some lab to be super perect tomatoes. Simple salads like this are what I live on during the hotter months….. which is about half the year here in Phoenix π
Yes, well we don’t have that much of good weather really but I agree; it’s their imperfection that makes them perfect! Plus the flavors. Ray so wildly that it’s always a surprise to find how they taste!
When local tomatoes are in season, we have exactly this salad all the time! One of the best — simple, and outstanding flavor. And I’m with you — if the flavor is good, the flavor is good (heirloom or no).
Exactly! No one cares about the name if the taste is awesome!
I agree with you if the flavor of the tomato is good, who cares. I am sure there are many who loosely use the word heirloom as it sounds a little more exciting and suggests a more romantic tomato dish. Love simplicity. π
Yes, there are a lot of those words that people tend to use as it kind of sounds more exciting/romantic/fun than what they’re actually selling probably. Lol… O well, as long as it tastes good, it tastes good!
Such a great post! Love what you created, looks delicious and I’m going to try it! Here is my latest food related post if you wanna take a look π
http://elmarama.blogspot.com/2014/05/strip-steak-with-roasted-potato-medley.html