As I was planning my garden this spring, one of the visions I had in my head was of glorious bowls of salad from the garden. I had thoughts of bowls of crispy romaine tossed with freshly sliced, still warm off the vine cucumbers, and loads of assorted colors and sizes of cherry tomatoes. It was a lovely idea. Except that by the time the tomatoes are ripe and ready, the lettuce harvest is several months behind us, and this year the cucumber harvest was all but extinct.
What I do have, though is a nice abundance of cherry tomatoes. Not so many that I’m throwing them at every person who walks by, but enough that we’re not keeping up with them simply by eating out of hand. I went searching on my iPod for a few recipes for cherry tomatoes, and one from Mark Bittman caught my eye. I was curious about it, as it called for Asian seasonings to go with the tomatoes, and I wondered how that would go over. I went for it, and was pleasantly surprised. It really was insanely easy, and comes together in just seconds. For best results, you want it to sit for at least 15 minutes to give the flavors time to meld. The salad did not taste overly Asian at all either. In fact, we ate it with some barbecue ribs and mashed potatoes.
Cherry Tomato Salad with Soy Sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce, plus more to taste pinch of sugar 2 teaspoons dark sesame oil 4 cups cherry or grape tomatoes, stemmed and cut in half 1/2 cup whole basil leaves, Thai preferred (I used regular basil, about 10 leaves, cut into ribbons) black pepper to tasteCombine the soy sauce, sugar and oil in a large bowl. Add the tomatoes and basil, and sprinkle liberally with pepper. Stir gently to coat the tomatoes in the dressing.
For best results, allow to rest for at least 15 minutes before serving.