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Friday, June 30, 2017

Tomato Salad

There is a local restaurant here called Hot and Hot Fish Club where every thing is delicious, but every summer when tomatoes are in their prime, the best dish hands down is the tomato salad. I bought some fantastic vine ripe tomatoes at the farmer's market Tuesday and decided to make a somewhat similar salad for our dinner tonight. I had nearly everything on hand and what I didn't have I could punt and either do without or find a reasonable substitution.

                              Variation on a Theme of Hot and Hot Tomato Salad


Salad
2 very ripe tomatoes
10 cherry tomatoes (halved)
2/3 cup cooked lady peas (chick peas, crowder peas or black eyed peas will work)
6 pickled okra pods
5 slices bacon cooked crisp (I used Neuske's applewood smoked bacon)


Dressing
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
1 clove finely minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon Italian herb blend
salt and pepper to taste (About 1/8 teaspoon each but I don't like salt)

Mix al ingredients together with a wire whisk.  Stir well before using.

Faux Basil Aioli
1/2 teaspoon basil
2 tablespoons mayonnaise

Mix together and set it aside

Prepare the dressing and set it aside.
Peel the tomatoes and slice into about 1/2 inch slices, put the slices in a shallow bow,l and pour about 1/3 of the dressing over them.  Let it sit for about 15 minutes
Put 1/3 cup of the peas on the bottom of a plate. Put about a tablespoon of the dressing on the peas. Place the tomatoes on top of the peas. crumble 3 slices of the bacon and sprinkle half of  it around the peas. Put 5 cherry tomatoes on each plate and add the 3 pods of pickled okra. Place one whole slice of bacon on the top tomato slice . Drizzle the remaining dressing over everything and add a dollop of the basil mayonnaise. Have a nice glass of a cabernet, a couple of slices of toasted French bread and enjoy a fantastic summer meal. The only thing that would have made the dinner better would have been if we ate it on the porch and could hear the crickets and katydids while we ate. Oh well, next time.

The salad at the restaurant has 6 varieties of tomatoes, corn, and fried okra instead of the pickled. I had 2 varieties of tomatoes, no corn and no fresh okra, but it was still incredibly tasty.

18 comments:

  1. Anything with tomatoes is bacon has got to be a hit in my book. We're almost in tomato season here, but not quite.

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    1. It is not prime tomato season yet but they are coming in now

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  2. That looks absolutely delicious. And perfectly Southern, too. Drooling...

    I learned to make the muffins from you last post in 4H. They were called surprise muffins. :)

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    1. It is perfectly Southern, and perfect for the two of us for dinner. I am glad I know what to call those muffins now. I just had an old hand written recipe that I found stuffed in a folder with a go zillion other old recipes.

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  3. Ok-new salad for the 4th of July sorted. I think this will be very refreshing.

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  4. Yum. There is very little than beats the taste of a fresh home grown tomato.

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    1. I agree totally and they are just beginning to produce here,

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  5. Tomorrow, I have to get up early to take my car to tire place. But, first I stop to get fresh tomatoes from our Farmer's Market. Hold the okra on that salad! Otherwise, I am drooling.

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  6. When my tomatoes are ripe, I will give this salad a try.

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  7. I am waiting for my tomatoes to come through too. It's weird because a friend and I catch the bus to Turin market (Italy) every year to have a mooch around and their fruit and veg are divine. We are on the same latitude and nothing tastes like that here. You can't beat plum tomatoes, onions and olive oil to my mind. I will have to give your recipe a shot though. Looks fabulous. Anna

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    1. I no longer grow tomatoes because all I did was feed the chipmunk population. Now I buy locally grown. I love tomatoes, onions and olive oile too.

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  8. Ours in Ontario are not ready yet but this salad really appeals to me - I eat tomatoes just about every day! I'm not sure about the pickled okra - oh, I think I'd like it as I do love things pickled, I'm just not sure if our grocery stores carry it, but I could substitute something else that's pickled maybe...

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    1. My thought on any recipe is it's your food so whatever changes you make is great.

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  9. I love this salad...and I've pinned your make-at-home version. Can't wait to try!

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    1. It is not exactly the same but it is a dang good home version. I usually cut the kernals off a cooked ear of corn and bake a couple of oven fried okra pods, but I didn't have any.

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