Jonesing For Fresh Tomato Season

Huzzah! My tomato plants have some blooms on them, which means I'm that much closer to this summer's first ripe tomato off the vine.

Honestly, is there anything better than that first juicy, ready to slice and devour sun-ripened tomato fresh from your very own garden ?

Mr. ReddHedd would say that yes, there are any number of things better than that.  (He's not much of a fresh tomato fan, sadly.)   But for me?  Just the thought of a bowl of fresh tomatoes, sliced basil leaves and some fresh mozzarella tossed with a drizzle of good olive oil and some sea salt?

Heaven.

I found a recipe for a fresh tomato salad dressing that is lovely with a combination of hothouse grape tomatoes and a couple of Romas.  If it's good already with those, imagine the amazing taste of fresh tomatoes from the garden in a month or so.

Ahhhhh....bliss.


The original recipe was from the Weight Watchers website, but I've tweaked it a little for my taste and convenience.  Enjoy!

Lettuce Salad with Fresh Tomato Dressing
1/2 c. ripe grape tomatoes, chopped
1/2 c. ripe Roma tomatoes, chopped
(or use 1 c. fresh garden tomatoes, chopped, when and if you can get them from your own garden or the farmer's market -- I'd bet beefsteaks would be divine in this!)
2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
1 clove garlic, minced (or more to taste)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper (or more to taste)
1/4 c. fresh basil leaves, cut into ribbons
1 1/4 tsp. good quality extra virgin olive oil (quality is important here because the taste of the oil should be fruity and fresh)
1/2 tsp. sugar
6 c. mixed mesclun lettuce blend, cut into bite-sized pieces
In small bowl, combine tomatoes, vinegar, garlic, salt, pepper, basil, oil and sugar; let stand 10 to 20 minutes at room temperature to blend flavors and allow juices from the tomatoes and garlic to permeate the oil.  In large bowl, toss lettuce with dressing, then divide evenly among 4 plates.  (Should be about 1/4 cup dressing per serving of salad.)  Serves 4.  The original weight watchers version had 0 points per serving, which should hold for this as well.

Here's where I get really creative:  this dressing is awesome with any number of salad additions that can take this from a side dish to a main dish lunch or dinner.  It's a sort of salsa cruda meets a vinaigrette, and I will be making this all summer long, I can already tell.

To the original recipe, you can add some cubed fresh mozzarella for a really yummy caprese salad version.  Or add some grilled or roasted zucchini, onions, and red peppers and you get a fabulous veggie salad.

Or add some chickpeas with a little crumbled feta, chopped kalamata olives and diced cucumbers for a Greek version -- especially if you switch out some of a basil for parsley or mint or some fresh oregano.  Imagine adding the grilled or roasted veggies to any of these, too.

Grilled chicken would be incredibly tasty with this as well -- or with any variation.

Or imagine just the dressing over grilled chicken -- or fish -- or just the grilled veggies with some crusty whole grain bread.  You see where I'm going with this?  Really fun to think about how to use this to keep the food fresh on our table this summer.

(Gorgeous tomato shot via jacki-dee.  You can almost taste the tomatoes, can't you?  Love it!)