Sunday 3 June 2012

Our Beautiful Salad Supper


 I found some really beautiful tomatoes, a nice red onion, and a lush, healthy basil plant while I was out shopping yesterday. 


They were too pretty to resist so I brought them home with the intention of making them into a salad for supper.

I coarsely cubed the tomatoes, added some thinly sliced red onion, then picked some of the leaves off of the basil plant.  I set the small leaves aside for garnish and then shredded the larger ones, by hand, into the salad bowl.  I added some freshly ground pepper and a good sprinkling of salt.


A simple vinaigrette seemed the best dressing for this salad.  I measured out a Tablespoon of red wine vinegar, 3 Tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, and 1/4 teaspoon for dry mustard. 
 

I combined them all in a mason jar, put the lid on and gave them a good shake.  The mustard helped to emulsify the oil so that the finished dressing looked like this:


I added the dressing to the salad bowl and used my hands to gently mix the ingredients together.  When the salad was dressed, I tasted it and adjusted the seasoning.

The tomatoes were quite juicy so there was a lot of liquid in the salad bowl.  I used my hands to gently lift the salad from the bowl, draining off the excess liquid, and transferred the salad to a serving plate.  I added some cheese toasts and that was our meal.


We shared the salad and the toasts, right from the serving plate.  It was a lovely dinner; beautiful looking, inexpensive, quick to prepare, and really delicious.  We both enjoyed it.
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This post is linked to Hearth and Soul Blog Hop hosted by The 21st Century Housewife, Premeditated Leftovers, Zesty South Indian Kitchen, Penniless Parenting, Savoring Today, and Elsa Cooks.
Hearth & Soul Hop

10 comments:

Annie at Haphazard Homestead said...

Sounds wonderful. With the toast, almost like a deconstructed bruschetta.

Aunt B said...

Yes, it was like a deconstructed bruschetta Annie. In fact, my husband ended up putting some of the salad on top of his cheese toast and eating it that way. :)

Unknown said...

Fresh, simple to prepare and delicious! The best kind of meal. :)

Aunt B said...

Yes. We enjoyed it! Thanks for stopping by to check out the post. :)

barbecue said...

looks like a great salad which i would eat with a main bbq dish also cause im a big guy.

Aunt B said...

I'm glad you like the recipe. My husband said the same thing about a salad supper. ;) Still, it doesn't hurt to eat a light meal from time to time. :)

April J Harris said...

I love salad suppers! Those tomatoes look just amazing, and I really like the delicious red wine vinaigrette you served with them. The cheese toasts look yummy too!

Aunt B said...

Thank you April. I enjoy a salad supper too. It's nice to have something a little lighter once in a while. :)

Alea Milham said...

we eat a lot of salads in the summer. Mostly because I am too busy in the garden to start dinner, so I just grab a handful of veggies as I walk in and toss them together. :) Your salad looks lovely and the dressing sounds delicious.

Aunt B said...

That's the very best kind of salad Alea. :)