Fresh Garden Tomato Salad

Tomato Salad made with in-season tomatoes only because garden fresh is the only way to go. Simple yet incredibly delicious – especially with fresh crusty bread or tossed with toasted croutons.

I have to reiterate that this tomato salad should only be made with in-season tomatoes. Any garden fresh tomato – cherry reds, yellow, or orange, roma, beefsteak, or a combination of whatever you have. Don’t have a garden? Hit up your local farmer’s market. You’ll get great tomatoes there and also a bunch of other goodies you can use. Get to know the vendors and strike up conversations on suggestions for how to use whatever you’re buying. I love going and I seem to learn something new every time I go.

You may wonder why on earth I’m posting a recipe for such a simple dish. Well, I’m frequently asked how I make it. Just because I grew up with this salad doesn’t mean everyone else has. So here it is folks. I’ll post guidelines for amounts, but they’re only guidelines. You can’t screw this up.

You’ll need fresh chopped tomatoes along with a few cloves of garlic. If you love garlic like we do, you’ll use at least two cloves for every pound of tomatoes. Toss in a few torn basil leaves and a few glugs of good extra virgin olive oil. Add a good pinch of salt and pepper and toss it all together. Now, let it sit for a few so the flavors can have a chance to mingle.

Use really good extra virgin olive oil here. When the olive oil is the sauce, you want only the best. This is true when making uncooked sauces like my Peruvian pesto, Italian pesto, or spinach pesto. It’s also true when making dressings like my orange, lemon, or balsamic vinaigrettes.

Try some of my other salads:

• Spinach watermelon feta salad with lime vinaigrette
• Sweet and tangy cucumber salad
• Mexican street corn salad
• Sonoma chicken salad
• Peruvian oil and vinegar potato salad
• Macaroni salad
• Spinach and cheese pasta salad
• Grilled peach and blue cheese salad

This salad also makes a great topping for fish, steaks, chops, or chicken.

Life is too short for mediocre food.

Fresh Garden Tomato Salad

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Tomato Salad made with in-season tomatoes only because garden fresh is the only way to go. Simple yet incredibly delicious - especially with fresh crusty bread or tossed with toasted croutons.

These amounts are simply guidelines. Recipe can be adjusted to your desired serving - halved, doubled, etc.

Course: Salad

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: Salad, Tomato

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Servings: 4

Author: Natalie

Ingredients

• 2 pounds garden tomatoes preferably heirloom, chopped
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil approx.
• 2 - 4 garlic cloves finely minced
• A few fresh basil leaves torn or julienned
• kosher or sea salt
• Pepper

Instructions

• Place all of the tomato salad ingredients into a large bowl and toss together. Allow to sit for at least 10 minutes to allow the flavors to marry. Taste and adjust salt as needed. This salad needs salt for it to taste good. Serve with fresh bread to soak up all the juices or toasted croutons for added crunch.

Notes

Suggestions for serving:

Serve as is - it’s that delicious. It’s like a chunky soup because as it sits, the salt draws out the juices from the tomatoes. Either soak up those juices with some good bread or drink it. It’s good for you.

Toasted Croutons:

14 - 16 ounce loaf of crusty bread - I buy day old ciabatta but you can buy what you like

1/4 cup olive oil

Preheat oven 350. Slice bread into 1 inch cubes and place in a big bowl. Drizzle with olive oil and toss until it’s all coated. Transfer onto baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes, toss, and continue to bake until golden brown. Set aside until you’re ready to assemble salad. These are good for any salad.

Crusty Bread:

Break off pieces of crusty bread and pile on the tomatoes. The juices get soaked up by the bread. So good.

Other:

Serve it on top of seafood, steak, pork chops, or chicken breasts.

Did you make this recipe? I would love to see how it turns out. Tag me on Instagram @thegeneticchef or tag #thegeneticchef and tell me all about it!

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