Happy New Year Everyone!
There is probably no need to say it, but to avoid any confusion and to provide myself with a reminder should I forget, maybe I will anyway: I’ve made some New Years resolutions. Now, don’t get all excited thinking you know exactly what I’m about to say because these resolutions have nothing to do with dieting or eating healthier. I already eat healthy and have done so for most of my life and dieting is just something that I will never do. Nope, this years food related resolution is all about tomatoes.
A close family member works in the tomato cultivation industry here in BC, as a result we have been blessed with a constant and at times overwhelming supply of fresh green house grown tomatoes. While I love tomatoes I sometimes find it a bit challenging to be creative with the nearly 5lbs we receive each week. I have many old favorites for pastas, sauces, soups and salads which are what I tend to rely on in one way or another, but have found myself bored with these lately. So the resolution/goal for 2010 is to try my best to stray from my usual comfort zone and try and find new and creative uses for the tomato.
My first attempt came this weekend when I decided to use the contents of my refrigerator as inspiration. I was fairly limited with only celery, red onion and some bean sprouts, but I didn’t let that discourage me. I decided to finely chop the celery and sprinkle it like confetti on top of the layered tomatoes and salted red onions and serve with a small bunch of fresh sprouts on the side. I had never combined celery and tomatoes in this way in a salad and I must say it was a pleasant surprise and one I will do again.
Tomato Celery Salad – Serves 2 for lunch
4 medium sized fresh tomatoes, sliced into rounds
a handful of fresh grape tomatoes, sliced in half
3-4 celery sticks, finely diced
1/2 medium red onion, sliced
kosher Salt
celery salt
Pepper
good Olive Oil (I used basil)
balsamic vinegar
Salt the red onion slices with the kosher salt and set aside so the flavor can mellow out slightly while you prepare the tomatoes and celery.
Arrange the sliced tomatoes on a serving platter to your liking and then layer the salted red onion sliced on top. Top with the celery confetti and finish by drizzling some nice olive oil and balsamic vinegar on top. Beautiful when served with some sprouts and a slice of toast.
