Tomato salad recipes for picnics

I say tomato
and you say tomato . .

Tomatoes are best served at room temperature and not chilled so that makes them great for picnics. In fact you shouldn’t keep tomatoes in the fridge – the cold temperature makes the flesh pulpy and destroys the taste.

Some recipes tell you to take out the seeds but it’s the seeds that contain much of the nutritional benefit of a tomato. Only a very few recipes are affected by seeds, so avoid seeding if possible.

Low in fat, tomatoes are cholesterol-free and an excellent source of vitamins, minerals and dietary fibre – so I think we can say that tomato salad recipes are a healthy choice for picnics.

Look for tomatoes with smooth, firm flesh and a bright shiny skin. Ideally, they should have a lovely tomato vine aroma still detectable at the stem. If you’ve ever been in a warm greenhouse full of tomato plants, you’ll know what I mean! Mmmmm!

Tomatoes pop up in all sorts of dishes and so you’ll find them on other pages in this site, including drinks and soups, including good ol' tomato soup.

Here I’m going to give you some tomato salad recipes, in which they are the main, or vital ingredient – so let’s get going with . . . . . .

Tomato salad with tomato and chilli vinaigrette

Use cherry tomatoes halved or larger tomatoes cut in quarters or eighths (about 36 cherry tomatoes will be enough for 4 people).

Pack in a food container and sprinkle with chopped fresh coriander.

Mix the following ingredients in a lidded jar and transport to picnic:

• 2 ripe salad tomatoes, skinned and diced (to skin easily, cover with boiling water for a minute)
• half a red onion, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped small
• 60 ml of tomato juice
• 125 ml red wine vinegar
• 2 red chillis, chopped
• 125 ml extra-virgin olive oil

At the picnic, shake and pour the vinaigrette over the tomato salad. That’s it.

To serve 4

• 900 g ripe salad tomatoes, sliced
• a chorizo sausage sliced, or a packet of ready-sliced chorizo
• 400 g tin of butter beans, rinsed and drained
• 60 ml extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 teaspoons lemon juice
• half a teaspoon caster sugar
• half a teaspoon Dijon mustard
• half a teaspoon Spanish pimenton (smoked paprika)
• 4 garlic cloves sliced thinly
• a handful of parsley, chopped (flat parsley if possible)

Mix together all the ingredients, except for the tomatoes and chorizo. Layer the tomatoes and chorizo in the bottom of a food container and pile over the bean mixture.

To serve 4

• 900 g salad tomatoes
• 200 g Feta cheese
• 120 ml olive oil
• 12 black olives
• few sprigs of fresh basil
• black pepper

Slice the tomatoes and arrange in a food container. Sprinkle with olive oil. Crumble the Feta cheese over and sprinkle with olives and fresh basil leaves. Season with black pepper and cover.

This tomato salad recipe can by varied by sprinkling with sliced spring onions instead of the cheese, or with buffalo mozzarella cheese balls and a drizzle of pesto, instead of the Feta and olive oil, - thus giving you a few more easy tomato salad recipes.

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