Fresh From the Garden

 

These salads are a wonderful use of your garden tomatoes...or if you don't have any garden tomatoes, you can still enjoy these fantastic side dishes with tomatoes from your grocery store.

Tomato and Sweet Onion Salad

Ingredients:

1 pound ripe mixed tomatoes, cut into wedges
1 pint Sun Gold cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 small sweet onion (such as Vidalia or Maui), thinly sliced
1/2 cup torn fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup 1/2-inch pieces fresh chives
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon sugar
Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper

Directions:

Combine tomatoes, onion, basil, chives, oil, vinegar, and sugar in a large bowl; season with salt and pepper and toss to combine.

This salad can be made up to 6 hours ahead. Cover and chill.

Source: Bon Appetit. You can find it here.

Notes: Oh, this just tastes like summer. Such a great tomato side dish. Rather than using tomatoes cut into wedges, we used a variety of colored grape tomatoes cut in half.

Cherry Tomato Salad (aka Cherry Tomato and Olive Salad)

Ingredients:

40 cherry tomatoes, halved
1 cup pitted and sliced green olives
1 (6 ounce) can black olives, drained and sliced
2 green onion, minced
3 ounces pine nuts (we used toasted chopped almonds)
1/2 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoons white sugar
1 teaspoon dried oregano
Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

In a big bowl, combine cherry tomatoes, green olives, black olives, and green onions.

In a dry skillet, toaste pine nuts (or almonds) over medium heat until golden brown, turning frequently. Stir into tomato mixture.

In a small bowl, mix together olive oil, red wine vinegar, sugar, and oregano. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Pour over salad, and gently stir to coat. Chill for 1 hour.

Source: Allrecipes.com, submitted by Keren. You can find it here.

Notes: This wonderful salad deserved much better pictures than the ones I took. Bad lighting! Bad! However, this is so amazing that I will happily make it again and post better pictures when I do.

Fun and Easy Mexican Side

 

Looking for a Mexican side dish to round out your meal? This could be the one you are looking for.

Mexican Corn Salad

Ingredients:

4 ears of corn, husked
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1/8 teaspoon paprika
Pinch of cayenne pepper, optional
2 ounces Cotija cheese or Parmesan, crumbled (about 1/2 cup), plus more for serving
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro, plus more for serving
Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper, to taste

Directions:

Prepare grill for medium heat. Grill corn, turning occasionally, until tender and charred, 8-10 minutes; let cool slightly. Cut kernels from cobs and transfer to a medium bowl.

Whisk mayonnaise, lime juice, paprika, cayenne, if using, 2 oz. Cotija cheese or Parmesan, and 2 tablespoons cilantro in large bowl; season with salt and pepper. Add corn and toss to combine. Top with more cheese and cilantro.

Do ahead: Dressing can be made 2 days ahead. Cover and chill. Corn can be grilled and cut from cobs 1 hour ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.

Source: Bon Appetit. You can find it here.

Notes: Honestly, the Cotija cheese was a little strong for me in this recipe. I would have preferred the Parmesan and will use Parmesan cheese from here on out. However, this is still a nice recipe (an homage to the street vendor corn on the cob) and one that will complement your Mexican meal nicely.

Fruit with a Twist

 

This was wonderful. It tasted completely different from what you were expecting (but then again, maybe I didn't know what to expect), but it was so good.

Plum-Fennel Salad with Honey-Ginger Dressing

Ingredients:

1/4 cup fresh orange juice
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
2 1/2 teaspoons honey

1 1/2 teaspoons finely grated peeled ginger, divided
Pinch of kosher salt
3 large red plums, cut into thin wedges
1/2 small fennel bulb, thinly sliced
Olive oil, toasted sesame seeds, and fennel fronds (for serving)

Directions:

Whisk orange juice, vinegar, honey, 1 tsp. ginger, and salt in a medium bowl. Add plums and fennel to dressing; toss to coat.

Cover and chill 30 minutes to allow fennel to soften and flavors to meld.

Toss remaining 1/2 tsp. ginger into fruit salad. Serve drizzled with oil and topped with sesame seeds and fennel fronds.

Recipe notes: Slightly underripe plums? Add a touch more honey.

Source: Bon Appetit. You can find it here.

Notes: Again, this was really great. The different flavors together worked surprisingly well.