Tomato Basil Vinaigrette
Spring lettuces have started coming into gardens and farmers markets, and with our fridge currently flush with local greens, we have been experimenting with new vinaigrettes. Tomato Basil Vinaigrette is our recent favorite, and we pour this fresh tasting dressing over everything from steak to grilled vegetables. With a base of pureed fresh tomatoes, spiked with basil's anise and peppery notes, Tomato Basil Vinaigrette eats like a warm summer's day. Tomato Basil Vinaigrette is also a great base dressing to customize with different tomato varieties and fresh herbs; tarragon and rosemary are both delicious.
Yield: About 1 cup
Ingredients:
- 1/2 pint cherry tomatoes (approximately 15)
- 12 basil leaves
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon honey
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Steps:
- Combine all the ingredients (tomatoes, basil, vinegar, oil, salt, garlic and pepper) in a blender or food processor. We like ours smooth, but experiment to find your preferred texture.
- Serve within 24 hours as a vinaigrette or sauce on salad, fish, meat, vegetables. Keep covered and refrigerated until use.
Marinated Tomato Mozzarella Salad
It has been a bit of a blur since Gideon's arrival, as we remember what it's like to go weeks without a full nights sleep. Little Gideon and Mom are both doing well, and so we are on track to returning to Haiti in early August. As we wrap up our last weeks here, stateside, we are relishing the tastes of North American summer: impossibly good sweet corn, tart local blueberries with a dash of cream, and fresh peak-of-summer tomatoes and herbs. This Marinated Tomato and Mozzarella Salad has been a frequent highlight on our table these last few weeks. It is ready in minutes, bursting with summer flavor, a balance of bright sweet tomatoes and creamy fresh mozzarella.
Honey Sesame Vinaigrette
The season of bounteous and beautiful salad greens has arrived in force. With our fridge bulging with market lettuces we thought it was time to share one of our favorite dressings: Honey Sesame Vinaigrette. This quick and easy dressing brings warm and zinging ginger flavor, balanced with sweetness from honey and roasted undertones of sesame. Honey Sesame Vinaigrette is also a great base vinaigrette to customize with your favorite fresh herbs: cilantro, mint, Thai basil, green onions, and chives all taste great.
Tomato & Almond Pesto, Pesto Alla Trapanese
Tomato and Almond Pesto, pesto alla Trapanese, is from the Trapani province in Northwest Sicily. Almonds are native to Sicily, and so in this offbeat, rosy-hued pesto, almonds replace pine nuts and cherry tomatoes add color and tartness to the mix. We love this pesto for its mellow, complex and fruity flavor and have been making it for years, unfortunately, some ‘technical issues’ have gotten in the way of publishing it on the blog.
There was the time I forgot to attach the lid to the food processor and the pesto ended up streaking the ceiling. In my next attempt, I managed to actually make the pesto, but then took a whole bunch of yummy looking pictures without a card in the camera. Determined to make and photograph it my third attempt, I got mid-way through the recipe before realizing that I didn’t have parmesan, so I substituted a mysterious fridge cheese and created a monster of a dish with a vomitus appearance and nasty bitter flavor. At this point I gave up until, in an attempt to escape afternoon house projects this weekend, I volunteered to make lunch, and commenced my final attempt to make and photograph tomato and almond pesto for our blog. I had forgotten how good and easy it really is! Some take home reflections: secure lids on all kitchen devices; don’t bother photographing your food, just eat it; stick with parmesan cheese; and ditch plain-Jane basil pesto and make it’s funkier Sicilian cousin with almonds and tomatoes. As we move into fall, and warm pasta dishes begin to sound cozy, try whipping up another of our easy weeknight pasta recipes: Chorizo & Feta Pasta.
Grilled Asparagus & Halloumi with Tomato Basil Vinaigrette
May is cooperating rather well, and we are eating our way into spring with Asparagus. We threw a crisp bunch on a hot grill this week, along with cherry tomatoes and local halloumi cheese, and drizzled the chunky spears with a fresh and summer inspired tomato and basil vinaigrette. To a lovely weekend of eating!
Southwest Black Bean Salad
In high school while browsing for recipes for a Mother’s Day brunch, I was struck by a colorful sounding 'Stoplight Salad' in my Mom’s copy of Simply in Season. My sister and I added it to our Mother’s Day menu that year, and it became a family staple. Through the years, I have created my own version with a bit more of a Southwest flair, swapping in a potent lime-cumin vinaigrette and handfuls of herbs and fruit for contrast. In college, when I needed a dish for a potluck with some Amish friends, I didn’t think twice before whipping up my Southwest Black Bean Salad…what had seemed like a good idea in my dorm room started making me nervous when I saw my garishly bright salad sitting amidst a table of creamy noodle casseroles. Before I could withdraw my food offering, the head cook stuck her spoon in my salad, and I was given a nod of approval, I quietly let out my breath and tried to act nonchalant. Southwest Black Bean Salad is a pungent, bright, and refreshing salad with corn, tomatoes, herbs, and a customizable base of seasonal vegetables and fruit. It has been my most requested recipe over the years, and is an infinity adaptable salad that will be devoured every time. I’d love to hear your favorite combinations! To read more about Simply in Season and our other favorite cookbooks, check out our Bookshelf.
