Tomato Salad with Herbs and Lemon

When you shop at the farmer's market at the height of summer, you will find a large variety of beautiful tomatoes you will never see if you only shop at the supermarket. Every tomato is bred for flavor and picked at peak ripeness which results in tomatoes that are delicious eaten right off the vine without any seasonings or accompaniments.

This salad offers just the bare minimum of extras to highlight the flavors of tomatoes at their best. It's a salad to make every day in summer and early fall to make sure you get your fill before the tomatoes leave for the winter again.

Jump to:

• Eating All Your Colors is Part of a Holistic Lifestyle
• Ingredients
• Instructions - How to Make this Tomato Salad
• Variations
• Equipment
• Storage
• Related
• Consider This

Eating All Your Colors is Part of a Holistic Lifestyle

Simple recipes like this one are the foundation of the lifestyle I developed to stay healthy, active, clear-headed and balanced as I got older. I learned from experience that the medical community stopped being helpful when they began recommending drugs or surgery instead of advocating for a holistic approach that includes a focus on all aspects of my health.

All members of the healthcare community are now financially dependent on people being sick. They don't have a financial incentive to keep people healthy. Neither do the big food companies. The best way to keep control over your health is to seek out tools and resources that keep you feeling well, medication-and pain-free, and performing at a high level in these areas:

• Physical Health: Nutrition, sleep, exercise, hormones, and physical education
• Mental and Emotional Health: The experience of feeling cognitively clear-headed and able to balance daily moods and emotions.
• Social Health: Deep connections to friends, family, and community including effective ways to communicate.
• Spiritual Health: How to connect and communicate with myself. Spending time in nature, reflection, and service.

We are all complex and different, but all of our bodies are systems of interconnected parts that contribute to our overall health and well-being. Learning to love fruits and vegetables as a part of a diet that omits overly processed and prepared foods is one of the hugely impactful steps we can take to keep control of our health instead of relegating responsibility for it to industrial food companies, pharmaceutical companies or healthcare systems.

Ingredients

As with many of the recipes on the site, there are only a few ingredients because the main ingredients - the tomatoes in this case - do most of the talking.

• Tomatoes: Use the ripest tomatoes you can find. I like to use several different varieties, sizes and colors to make it beautiful and to make each bite exciting.
• Red onion: Red onion presents the perfect counterpoint to the tomatoes because the tomatoes are soft and sweet and the onions are crunchy and sharp.
• Cucumbers: Cucumbers add a crunchy and delicately herbal sweetness to this salad. I think every tomato salad should have some cucumbers.
• Olive oil and vinegar: As I noted above, tomatoes at their peak of ripeness don't need much embellishment. But, to elevate them just the smallest amount, drizzle the tomatoes with an aged red wine vinegar and the best first cold pressed extra virgin olive oil you can find.
• Flaky sea salt: A good salt brings all the flavors in a dish together and this one is no different. I like Maldon sea salt flakes for this recipe.
• Freshly ground black pepper: Crack some fresh ground pepper at the end for a peppery kick. To ensure freshness every time, buy good quality peppercorns and grind them a la minute (prepared to order rather than prepped ahead of time).
• Gremolata: Whenever a dish calls for a little extra vibrancy, this classic Italian herb condiment answers the call. Made simply of parsley, lemon zest and juice, garlic and salt. It adds that extra little something that brings all the flavors to life.
• Basil: Basil's sweet and fragrant notes enhance the tomato's natural sweetness and reduce its acidity.

See recipe card for quantities.

Instructions - How to Make this Tomato Salad

Luckily, this salad is quick and easy because, if you're like me, you'll be munching on the tomatoes and cucumbers while you make it. In no time, it's done and ready!

Then drizzle with olive oil and vinegar. Add salt and pepper over the top. Then spoon on some of the gremolata, mix, and enjoy!

Variations

This is such a simple salad as is, but that's the beauty of it. There are a thousand ways to adapt it to the flavors and textures you like best. Try these:

• Add something creamy: Slice up some avocado and add to each serving plate. (I wouldn't mix it in because if you don't eat it all, the avocado will start to oxidize and change the flavor and texture).
• Add more crunch: I love cucumbers for the crunch, but you could also slice or dice up some fresh radishes, which would add a little spice too.
• Change up the vinegar: Red wine vinegar is a well-known flavor, but you could also try a sherry vinegar for a milder tang or a white balsamic vinegar to add a bit of sweet brightness.

Equipment

• Serrated knife: Knives without a serrated edge will not be able to pierce the skin of the tomato with a clean edge to keep the structure of the tomato in tact. For this recipe, you'll want to use an 8" or longer bread knife for the larger tomatoes, and if you choose, a smaller 4" serrated paring knife for cherry tomatoes and other small varieties.
• Cutting board: You'll want a cutting board with a drip catcher to catch all the tomato juices so that they don't spill onto the counter. This Farberware board does the trick and is large enough to accomodate enough tomatoes for several people.
• Glass bowls: Tomatoes are beautiful when cut so you'll want to catch every angle. Additionally, glass is non-porous, meaning it won't stain or absorb flavors or odors from the food, unlike plastic which can leach chemicals into your food. Glass is also considerered safer from a health perspective and is generally more durable than plastic, making it a better choice for long-term use. I use this set of glass bowls so I have all the different sizes handy.

Storage

Tomatoes do not like to be in the refrigerator. The cold temperatures can break down the membranes in the fruit and make them mushy. Because of that, I recommend just making the salad in a quantity that you can finish in one sitting. Leave the extra tomatoes on the counter until you are ready to eat them.

Related

Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:

Consider This

Explore additional articles and recipes on the site to continue your colorful journey: