My favorite salad to use summer tomatoes (and it’s not Caprese)

There is a very specific type of madness that leads me every summer, and its deep cause is the tomatoes. It starts quite innocently: a quick trip to the farmers market, just to “see what looks good”. But before I know it, I am in the metro, cradling a stack of vacillating propellers. A golden with tiger scratches? In the bag. Plum difficulty the color of my favorite lipstick? It must be mine. These happy Sungolds? Impossible to resist.

It doesn’t matter that I already have tomatoes at home – probably too much. Thank goodness for recipes like Salmorejo and the Simple and always satisfactory Panzanella salad that helps me to work through my reserves, but ultimately, even I lack the ways to use juicy, salty and slightly sweet fruits.

This is why I was particularly excited when my colleague Giovanna Vazquez of our Birmingham, in Alabama, Test Kitchen developed this brilliant and inventive salad designed for the tomatoes of the cutting edge season of all varieties. He obtains an additional boost of the addition of gross tomatillos – not technically tomatoes, but close cousins ​​whose vibrant acidity raises the salad in a complete celebration of the summer. Since this salad works with any variety of ripe and juicy tomatoes, do not hesitate to incorporate those which call you on the market.

Before the salad is assembled, tomatoes and tomatillos are first salted and left to flow briefly (only 15 minutes, but you can leave them lying for an hour if you do other things). This step intensifies their flavor and draws an excess of humidity, which prevents this dreaded pool of tomato water which would dilute the vinaigrette.

The scented shallots are added to the mixture with tomatoes and tomatiles, which obtain their own special treatment before entering the bowl. The raw shallots can overwhelm other ingredients in a salad with their sulfurous edge, but there is an easy solution: dip them briefly in the vinegar before adding them to the vinaigrette. This fast soaking makes their compounds of sulfurous flavors while slowly infusing them with vinegar, giving the finished salad a brighter bite.

The vinaigrette keeps things alive. The white balsamic offers brightness without the heaviness of regular dark balsamic, although all balsamic vinegar would work well here. The agave or honey completes the vinaigrette with a touch of sweetness, the oregano adds a hint of herbaceous, and Dijon and the garlic offer a pleasant bite. It’s daring but balanced – the kind of vinaigrette that makes you want to eat salad every day.

To collect all this, a dispersion of torn and creamy burrata and roasted almonds adds wealth and a welcome contrast of silky and crunchy textures. Although we like the simplicity of roasted almonds, smoked and candied almonds are fun alternatives. And as there is no reason to flee a classic agreement, the salad is finished with fresh and grassy basil. This animated and colorful salad celebrates the ephemeral section of summer when the tomatoes are at their peak and you want to get the most out of it.

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