The Best Tomato Salad

From Late Spring to Mid Autumn, our tomatoes are beautiful. In Australia, we each eat around 25kg on average per year. Salads, soups and curries, baked, roasted, grilled, sauteed, and dried, chopped, sliced or pureed, tomatoes play a large part in our cuisine. Elizabeth David reminds us of the French approach of simple is best, even when it comes to tomatoes.

We also have lots of tomato salads to browse, and indeed lots of salads here and here. Take your time. Perhaps you might like the tomato recipes here and here. Or find some inspiration in our Summer recipes here and here.

Simple is Best

1. Let the ingredient shine. Observe. Be mindful. Let the product or produce talk to you.
2. Use the best (you can afford) of everything that you use in the kitchen.
3. Halve your time, double your fun and triple your compliments.
4. Be Simple. Be thankful.

Oh So Simple Tomato Salad

Source : adapted from Elizabeth David’s French Provincial Cooking
Cuisine: French, but really global
Prep time: 5 mins
Cooking time: 0 mins
Serves: 4 – 6 people, depending how you use it

ingredients
fresh, vine-ripened tomatoes in season, the best (but not necessarily the most expensive) you can get
extra virgin olive oil
the best vinegar or a little lemon juice
sea salt
black pepper
a pinch sugar
parsley

method
Slice the tomatoes and lay onto a plate. Drizzle any juice from the tomatoes over the slices.

Drizzle a tiny bit of vinegar over the slices. Not too much. Put your finger over the bottle opening to stop it coming out too fast, or pour into a teaspoon or other utensil first.

Sprinkle with sea salt and coarsely ground black pepper.

Sprinkle a pinch of sugar over the slices – this brings out the flavour. Again, just a little. You don’t want to taste the sugar.

Take that wonderful olive oil, golden yellow or even a little green in colour and drizzle it over everything.

Serve.

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browse more recipes

• Oven Dried Tomatoes
• Simplicity at its Best
• Miso Soup
• Palak Pachadi (Spinach and Yoghurt)