Easiest Tomato Salad
Garlicky, lush, fresh and so easy, you can barely call it a recipe.
A little bowl of sunshine.
I stumbled upon this recipe when planning a Ham Party for New Year’s Eve. Costco sells massive Spanish Iberico hams and I had been wanting to get one for years. What better time than the present to get one and try to eat 14 pounds of ham with our quarantine pod? A laughably small amount was eaten the night of and I can say that we are stocked to last us the rest of 2021. Ham Party all year long!
Now, the question is, when and how to eat this tomato salad? Honestly, it’s good with anything. Eat it on its own. Top egg dishes. Spoon it on toasted baguette and top with jamón for a classic form of Spanish tapas. I like to put it in a bowl, top with home grown sprouts and enjoy it as a side salad. It is also fantastic with anchovies, especially on top of a piece of good bread. If you want to get fancy, add some herbs, onion or chilies. This simple salad can turn into almost any tomato-based salsa or sauce. Make a big batch and add in other things each day of the week to keep it interesting.
All you need for this salad. And, yes, I store my bulk Costco organic extra virgin olive oil in a Frank’s Red Hot bottle. Reduce, reuse, recycle!
Easiest Tomato Salad
Serves 2-3; can be scaled up very easily
2 large tomatoes, or a half pint of small tomatoes; diced
1 clove garlic; grated on a microplane or mashed with a fork
1-2 tablespoons good olive oil
Sea salt, to taste
Cutting board
Knife
Microplane or fork
Bowl
Spoon
Use spoon to mix everything in a bowl. Serve immediately or store in the refrigerator until ready to use.
This salad works great with any tomatoes. I know you never, ever let your tomatoes get old and wrinkly, but if you discover a couple forgotten in the back of the fridge, this will be their salvation. The salt and olive oil easily revive sad, wilted tomatoes and even sadder off-season tomatoes. I haven’t yet made this with summer tomatoes and am anxiously awaiting that mind blowing moment.
Be warned: resist the urge to use more than one clove of garlic. Trust me on this. I have a group of girlfriends who can tell you a very funny story set in the before times involving bruschetta with way too much garlic and a night out at the local bar. I have still not learned my lesson. Garlic breath in the times of mask-wearing is a major bummer, but thankfully, only for yourself.
Topped with home grown Hot Squared sprouts from Sprout People.
