Seasonally simple garden Heirloom Tomato Salad
Heirloom tomato salads are the best way to enjoy Summers bounty!
Heirloom Tomato Salad : Hello Summer!
This consistently cool weather had us apprehensive, particularly as heirloom tomato gardeners. With almost 20 heirloom tomatoes plants that we’ve been nurturing over the last few months, all we were hoping for was some hot sun to get these plants to bolt out with tomatoes. Unfortunately there hasn’t been much of the sun! May and June gloom kept our tomatoes from ripening as intended and as impatient gardeners, the weather left us staring at green tomatoes for the last few months.
We could either pickle the green tomatoes like we often do, or just wait patiently and be as tolerant as we could to allow them to ripen. Trust us, it can get excruciatingly painful to stare at green tomatoes for months when you’re craving sweet red ones.
When patches of late afternoon sun would peak out, the tomatoes were soaking up every bit of nurturing warmth. Finally, after, what seems like a decade, some of the heirloom tomatoes started to ripen to their true, sweet colors. Occasionally one or two would ripen up and we’d eat those in one sitting.
snow white heirloom cherry tomatoes
But what we were anxiously waiting for was an actual harvest full of tomatoes, meaning at least 10 tomatoes. Five for each of us. That’s a fair split and substantial meal.
With this first substantial batch of ripe heirloom tomatoes, there was only one way to enjoy them. A simple, seasonally appropriate preparation of sliced garden heirloom tomatoes with a drizzle of olive oil and balsamic vinegar is perfection on a plate. Add a dusting of good sea salt, fresh cracked black pepper and aromatically sweet fresh basil. Now finally, that is perfection on a plate.
left: sweet 100 cherry. right: green zebra
Sometimes heirloom tomatoes get too much thought when it comes to preparation. Canning, stewing or drying a batch of gorgeous heirloom tomatoes is great if you have an abundance of them. But for us, to really appreciate the delicacy and treasure of an heirloom tomato is to eat it as it was meant to be: raw and fresh.
Just the heirloom tomato sliced on a place with simple accompaniments is all it takes to eat seasonally simple and to celebrate the arrival of Summer.
Less is more, especially when it comes to a good heirloom.
“jewel” enchantment heirlooms
Neves Azorean Red & Black Krim & Green Zebra
above: sun gold cherry
Pinot heirloom
enough tomatoes for a full meal!
Heirloom Tomato Salad Recipe
Ingredients
- fresh , sweet heirloom tomatoes
- olive oil
- balsamic vinegar
- sea or kosher salt
- fresh cracked black pepper
- crumbled goat cheese, feta or grated parmesan , optional
- fresh basil
Instructions
- Slice tomatoes and drizzle with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper or optional cheese.
- Slice or tear fresh basil leaves on top. Enjoy!
Your tomatoes look absolutely beautiful. Being an avid lover of tomatoes, seeing anything tomatoey will make my mouth water. I’d love to pop one of those sweet cherry tomatoes in my mouth right now!
I’ve also been thinking about growing my own fruits and veggies, but to buy a larger piece of land here in Melbourne Australia will cost heaps. 🙁 For now, I’ll just have to stick to buying them from the grocery store…
That first picture was just amazing! I just stopped and said WOW! I think I’m the only person that can’t grow! 🙂 Those tomatoes are beautiful and I didn’t know there were so many different varieties of heirloom tomatoes. You’re right – enjoying them raw & fresh is the way to go!
I knew you were growing these gorgeous jewels of summer and couldn’t wait to see the final product. The tomato salad looks simply sensual and the pictures, well, breathtakingly flawless. Hoping to find some at my local Farmers Market. Thanks for the recipe. Besos. Veronica
I’ve got tommy toes, amish pastes and black russians graciously pushing through to our subtropical winter. I say graciously because it must be such an indignity, all that insect attack they suffer, to get this far. I love them so much. Their must be 150 heirloom tomatoes in my last seed catalogue and I hope I live enough summers to plant every one of them.
Those look divine!! I made some mozzarella cheese yesterday and was wishing for some ripe tomatoes, but unfortunately, it is Kansas, and it will be mid-July before we can truly start picking and enjoying!!
Gorgeous!! I agree, cooking these babies is superfluous!!! Some good olive oil, a splash of vinegar (I love them with a little verjus) and some fleur de sel…. it simply does not get better than that!!!
Now, if only I had a few of these right now….
If you ever see seed for “Black Krim” I can highly recommend them as the sweetest tomato I have ever grown. Rarely see this variety in markets. Love “Green Zebra” and “Persimmon” as well.
We love the Black Krims! It tops our list every year for one of our “must haves.” Ours are just barely starting to ripen. We picked our first one two days ago.
I love these tomatoes…I can’t grow them, but I am always going to the market for them…Beautiful pictures, as usual
Our tomato plants are ENORMOUS, and budding out all over the place, but like yours, the ripening has been frustratingly slow. We’ve gotten about 5 sungold cherry tomatoes. That’s it. The zucchini are going full blast though, and on the plus side, I’m still getting strawberries and peas.
I had the same problem with my tomatoes. I’m finally getting some ripe ones which means its tomato sandwich season! Assuming I can get the tomatoes in the house to make it… I usually just eat them all off the vine. I bring salt with me to the garden.