This recipe is great ending to a hot summer day. It is a family recipe passed down to me from my great grandmother. My grandmother and I used to sit outside with candles all around us with this salad and warm conversation. The original recipe was first used in 1912.
What a wonderful recipe. As I was making it, I thought that perhaps it might need a little olive oil for juice; but after it sat in the refrigerator, the tomatoes made their own juice. My family just loved it. Thanks!
Read MoreThe trick to this recipe is to use extremely ripe tomatoes. Save the juice when slicing the tomatoes and add the pepper, red pepper and salt to taste as this will become the marinade, otherwise the salad is just to dry to stand on it's own. As written this recipe is completely overwhelmed by the basil, onions and cilantro. Herbs would be much better reduced by half so the flavor of the tomatoes is not "lost". With changes, good use of summer produce.... Ummm!
Read MoreThe trick to this recipe is to use extremely ripe tomatoes. Save the juice when slicing the tomatoes and add the pepper, red pepper and salt to taste as this will become the marinade, otherwise the salad is just to dry to stand on it's own. As written this recipe is completely overwhelmed by the basil, onions and cilantro. Herbs would be much better reduced by half so the flavor of the tomatoes is not "lost". With changes, good use of summer produce.... Ummm!
What a wonderful recipe. As I was making it, I thought that perhaps it might need a little olive oil for juice; but after it sat in the refrigerator, the tomatoes made their own juice. My family just loved it. Thanks!
Loved it! I also added lime juice and cucumbers which I thought complemented the recipe very well.
I never would have thought that it would be possible for a salad to have this much flavor without a heavy dressing! Ok, so I have not been able to find the yellow tomatoes but that's no problem. Just add extra red. I find that I'm still slightly nervous about the garlic getting distributed evenly so I still juice a few of the tomatoes into a little bowl and stir the garlic into that. Then pour over all. What a pleasure to find a wonderful, wonderful salad that the whole family loves and have it be fat free too! I've had this recipe for about 2 weeks and we've already had it 4 times. Thank you so much for sharing this!
An excellent fresh, quick, extremely tasty salad. The only change I made was to sub dried cilantro.
This salad was very good! A bit salsa-ish, but an excellent use of excess garden bounty for sure. Thanks!
Wow, I guess I have to disagree with most of the reviews on here. It does need a dressing. It's very "earthy" (as my husband) said without some kind of "sauce". I added some balsamic vinegar and was able to eat it then, but on it's own it's just too dry.
This is a wonderful, fresh salad that's perfect for those warm summer months when tomatoes from the garden are so abundant. It's not only vibrant in color but also in taste. I did leave out the cilantro as a personal preference and did NOT refridgerate this. I did however drizzle a little olive oil over top and added just a splash of balsamic vinegar (any nice vinegar would do) which I think made a huge difference.
I added a mix of extra virgin olive oil and balsamic to this salad. Really good. I think the olive oil and balsamic really made this extra tasty. Quick and easy--no leftovers.
Very nice! It was a brilliant idea actually. The herbs give it an itailian dressing taste without the oil. I used 4 Iowa grown tomatoes, got a lot of juice from that, and I threw in a couple handfulls grape tomatoes. Next time I am going to try cucumbers to give it a little more something. But otherwise, very good and a nice healthy option for my family!
I'm leaning towards agreeing the pulleyheather (and SHarris's hubby) on this one. I love tomatoes, and I like a tomato salad with just herb and either no dressing or a bit of oil or vinegar. I did not like this at all. It just was like eating a bunch of leaves - the basil and cilantro were way overwhelming and all I tasted. I tried adding some balsamic vinegar as heather did, but that just didn't do it. I find it interesting looking at the pics that there seems to be little of the green stuff, so I have to wonder what's going on there. My pic had way more green as well and did not look good. (Although I did have the yellow tomatoes so it was colorful.) No, I didn't measure wrong, and I even looked up online what a dry pint would be (since I didn't use store-bought), which is just a hair over a liquid pint -- maybe many folks are tossing in way more than the 2 pints called for.
Delicious! I added a little bit of olive oil, but it would have been wonderful without it. Thanks for sharing!!
I love tomatoes and this was a fresh and healthy way to eat them! My husband was amazed that there wasn't any oil or dressing on it! The only subs I made were using plain chopped onions instead of green onions (I was out) and the basil and cilantro are some I buy in a tube (So you can reduce the amounts a bit). It was excellent!!
I was skeptical because there is no marinade, but this recipe was light and refreshing. I followed it exactly, except that I could not find the yellow pear tomatoes, so just substitued red. It was quick to make and a nice change to have the pure taste of the tomatoes not smothered in a lot of oil.
Very good. Would be very appropriate served with chicken or fish. The yellow tomatoes make the dish!
Loved this simple blend of the romas and the cherry tomatoes. Due to the ripeness of our tomatoes this was very moist and did not need a "sauce". Added fresh mozzarella for a texture blend. It was very enjoyable!
I made this using regular tomatoes from the garden. If your tomatoes are good, and you use fresh basil, this will be excellent. But, please don’t refrigerate this! Tomatoes lose flavor if they’re refrigerated. I put this together ahead of time and just let it sit at room temperature. I was intrigued that this had ground red pepper in it, but I may not have put enough in because I didn't even taste it. Next time I'll bump it up a little. Served over some leaf lettuce. Nice and light.
This is good. I've tried many recipes since coming to the US and now that I have my own computer I can now start giving more reviews. We loved this. Fresh vegetables can not be beat.
good recipe when tomatoes are in season and looking for something different to do w/them
What an excellent use of a mixture of tomatoes! This was a great salad and leftovers, warmed and served over fresh pappardelle, were even better!
This was very good--I like that the tomatoes were flavorful and juicy enough that it didn't need dressing. I omitted the basil because my plant was too bare. This even held up well the next day--I added avocado and it was a delicious combo.
Tomatoes have their best flavour when they are not refrigerated. I actually will not eat fresh tomatoes if they have been refrigerated. I think just letting the flavours mingle at room temp would be tastier.
I loved this simple salad. I did not have yellow pear tomatoes so I omitted it. I made slight change by adding 2 TBS of extra virgin olive oil and about 1tsp of red pepper flakes and I squeezed 1/2 a lemon. Very refreshing!
Great easy recipe, nice summer salad. The other reviews are right there is no dressing but in all honesty I didn't think it needed one. I Didn't have a green onion so used a fine sliced red onion in its place and had to sub dry cilantro for the fresh.
Oh, yum! These powerful flavors are still exploding in my mouth. I didn’t have yellow tomatoes, but oh well...it was still amazing. Also, I used a tiny bit of finely chopped white onion instead of green onion.
I loved the combination of flavors. Even my picky son loved this and ate every bit I gave him. I'm only scoring this lower because my husband - who normally loves this kind of salad - thought the herbs overwhelmed the tomatoes. He probably wouldn't eat it again, though that's not going to stop me from making it, not when it's a healthy vegetable side my son likes.
We very much enjoyed this salad. It was a very refreshing side dish to our supper.
I've been making this tomato salad since I was a girl (long, long ago), the only difference being that I never have used cilantro (soapy, don't like it at all). The one thing I'd add and do add is a good splash of EVOO, and I like to make it earlier in the day so the juices of the tomatoes blend beautifully with the oil, and can be soaked up with a good chunk of Italian bread! On occasion if I didn't have any on hand, I'd use any old onion, or none at all ... still good. Last thought, any tomatoes will do ... don't get stuck on cherries, use what you have. Only reason for the 4 stars is the cilantro ... otherwise, it's a 5.
Ok, so I have not really made this but the story is wonderful and it sounds great so I will try it. Just had to comment. 1912 was when my Mother was born and she would have loved this I know.
It's garden tomato season, and although I have had this recipe since last year, this is the first season I have made it. And made it. And made it. Very popular with my husband, who doesn't heap praise often ( he's told me to make this one Anytime!) my kids and in-laws also loved it. It is now a regular mealtime accompaniment. Amazinlgly simple, incredibly guilt-free, and DELICIOUS.
Nice way to use up cherry tomatoes from the garden! I didn't have ground red pepper, might have gotten a little carried away with red pepper flakes... Didn't have fresh cilantro so I put 1 tablespoon in about 1 tablespoon Olive Oil while chopping my tomatoes. I was also worried about the garlic spreading evenly so I put a couple cloves in a garlic press and added that to the Olive Oil too. I think yummier the next day!!
I used just regular, fresh, JERSEY tomatoes. Also, I used parsley instead of cilantro. This salad was delicous! Light, fresh and flavorful!
I left my tomatoes at room temperature and halved the herbs. I also added the juice of one full size tomato combined with the juice of 1 lime and let it macerate at room temperature for an hour before dinner. Very good side dish but it could also stand alone.
I absolutely love tomatoes, and this will be a staple this summer for me! Just delicious and so quick!
I added a little olive oil and red wine vinegar.