Tomato Basil Salad

When summer produce is at its peak, you should do very little with it. That’s why I created this salad recipe, it only includes tomatoes and basil leaves as they are, that's it!

Oh, and it includes dressing of course.

This simple salad is very Italian in its flavors. Balsamic vinegar with tomatoes and basil is a classic combo in Italy and I think it's just delicious, so why not have it?

Usually, this combo has another ingredient added to it - cheese. Since I wanted the salad to be parve for a Friday night meal, I kept the cheese out. Baby mozzarella cheese balls fit perfectly if you choose to have it with a dairy meal.

If you must add another vegetable to this salad then you can 1-2 cut cucumbers.

As you can see in the pictures, I choose to use 2 types of cherry tomatoes – one is darker. The darker cherry tomatoes are richer with lycopene, an antioxidant that is in red vegetables, and is super healthy. Some of the cherry tomatoes were a bit bigger so I cut them to quarters, the smaller tomatoes I simply cut to halves. As mentioned, I really didn’t do much with the sweet ripe tomatoes.

When using raw basil, it can turn black very fast, especially if you cut it with a knife. If you have smaller leaves then just add them as they are and if it's very big leaves, it's better to tear them with your hands to avoid them turning black quickly.

This salad can go well with a BBQ meal, as a fresh side dish. And if you want to have different salad options in your meal then check out my salad recipe index.

For more tomatoes recipes, check out my tomato recipe index

Let's get started making this simple yet tasty tomato basil salad: