After a long day slaving over a hot desk, simple pleasures are often the best. One of my favorite things to make for nibbling on while I cook dinner is this simple tomato salad.
I don't know how classic of a combination it is, but the salt, pepper, olive oil and vinegar tossed with tomatoes evokes for me memories of growing up, when my parents would grow tomatoes on the back deck, and we'd eat them sliced, dusted with salt and pepper and drizzled with vinegar.
This recipe isn't faithful to that youthful experience, though, since back then my parents didn't use coarse salt or freshly ground pepper, and I don't think you could even buy rice vinegar.
Speaking of which, you could sub in either balsamic or wine vinegar, but I think seasoned rice vinegar gives the exact amount of both sweet and tart (most balsamics you buy at the grocery are close to awful, IMO, and if you use wine vinegar, you'll want to maybe add a little sugar).
Adding the oil immediately after sprinkling with salt will prevent some of the salt from dissolving (since salt will not dissolve in oil), which adds a nice texture, in my opinion. If you don't care for it, just let the tomato and salt to sit for a minute to let the salt dissolve.
Dave's Simple Tomato Salad:
1 large tomato, as good quality as you can get
kosher salt
fresh ground pepper
~2 tbsp olive oil
~2 tbsp seasoned rice vinegar
Chop tomato coarsely, and put in a bowl. Sprinkle several pinches of kosher salt (to taste) over the chopped tomato, dust with freshly ground pepper, and then drizzle with oil and vinegar and toss.
Let sit for a few minutes (to let the salt pull some of the juices from the tomato), and then toss again. Enjoy.
quote of the day:
"Yes, this is my singing voice. It's not just cheap irony" - Art Brut - 'Formed a Band'
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