Tomato Basil Salad

Even though I write for a magazine called Blissfully Domestic I am far from domestic, especially in the kitchen. With all the talk of organic gardening and seeing how many of you are going to have yummy fruits and veggies to harvest soon I wanted to give you some ideas on what to do with those harvests. But since I have no idea how to do that I turned to my friend Dawn, who is amazing in the kitchen.

Dawn has kindly agreed to become a contributing writer here at Over Coffee- the green edition. (Yaa!) So starting today, you will be able to find an easy to follow recipe for your fruits, veggies, and everything in between, every other Wednesday.

Welcome Dawn, the newest contributing writer of Over Coffee – the green edition!

Summer to me means many things, but one of my favorite Summer things is Tomato Basil Salad. One of my favorite foods is tomatoes. And I mean real tomatoes, the kind that you grow in your garden, or you're able to buy at your local farmer's market, not the cardboard tasting things they sell at the grocery store. So with Summer just around the corner, I'd like to share a recipe I grew up with and my kids are enjoying growing up with too.

It's not even a "recipe" really, it's too easy for that.

Here's what you'll need:

• Tomatoes
• Basil
• Olive Oil
• Garlic
• Salt and Pepper

1.) Sliced your tomatoes and fan out in a shallow dish. A pie plate works for me.

2.) Thinly slice (chiffonade), your basil leaves, and sprinkle over the tomatoes.

3.) With the flat side of a knife, smash a garlic clove and drop on top of the tomatoes and basil.

4.) Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper to taste.


That's it. You can make this an hour or two in advance. I keep the garlic clove fairly whole to remove easily before serving. Wouldn't want anyone biting into a raw garlic clove.

The longer it sits the more juices will be extracted from the tomatoes, giving a wonderful sauce to dip fresh baked foccacia or ciabatta (we can get to those recipes another time).

Tip: Never put tomatoes in the refrigerator, it kills their flavor.

And if you want to fancy things up, like my husband often accuses me of doing, you can slice some fresh mozzerella and layer between the tomato slices. It's heaven.

Buon Appetito!