This spring, several weeks after my small vegetable garden had been tilled, I noticed a number of volunteer tomatoes springing up. I had intended to buy four new tomato plants. When conditions are right, four plants will produce a lot of tomatoes, but I hated to pull the hardy little plants up. I decided to leave 5 of the strongest vines and see what developed. What developed is that every single volunteer plant was a cherry tomato vine. They are now coming in so fast that by the time I have plucked the last ripe tomato from vine number five, vine number one already has more ripe tomatoes.
Well, maybe not that fast, but I have a bumper crop indeed.
I know what to do with big tomatoes – slice them up into the makings of great BLT sandwich, or can them for stewed tomato recipes. But you can only eat so many cherry tomatoes in a tossed salad. They are good just as they are, too, but I needed another way to serve them.
Voila! Cherry Tomato Salad, a great dish and easy. Here’s how.
First, wash the little fellows, but you know, it’s nice to know that when they come from your own garden, you don’t have to worry about scrubbing away heavy pesticides. Just rinse them thoroughly and you’re ready to go. Slice enough cherry tomatoes in half to make about 4 cups. That will easily serve 4. In a large bowl, mix the sliced tomatoes, ¼ cup olive oil, 3 tablespoons of malt vinegar (I prefer this to cider vinegar), 1 tablespoon parsley (fresh is best), 1 teaspoon dried or fresh basil, 1 teaspoon oregano, 1 teaspoon kosher salt and 2 teaspoons sugar. Mix the batch well and chill for at least 2 hours before serving. It can be made the night before. Maybe next week, I’ll figure out another way to eat the prolific little devils. I’m certainly open to suggestion.
Cherry Tomato Salad
4 Cups sliced cherry tomatoes
¼ Cup olive oil
3 Tablespoons malt vinegar
1 Tablespoon parsley
1 Teaspoon basil
1 Teaspoon oregano
1 Teaspoon kosher salt
2 Teaspoons sugar
Chill two hours before serving