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I am writing to you from the land of grandchildren today! It’s a happy place, if a bit
tiring exhausting at times.
We are minding our granddaughter Evelyn, while her baby brother Micah gets born – fun times for all. He is a healthy, sturdy little guy, and it’s instant love the first time you hold your grandkids! We would not trade this time for anything – both spending extra time with Evelyn, and getting to know Micah when he comes home later today.
I have to admit it will be nice to have our daughter and her husband back – they know how to do all the buckles! There are many buckles in the lives of little children today. They are hard to figure out and even harder to snap together, not to mention that no two are alike. I hope Evelyn hasn’t been paying attention to some of the words grandma and grandpa have been muttering under their breath when getting her fastened into her car seat and high chair.
What does all that have to do with Marinated Tomato Salad? Not a blessed thing, but a grandma is entitled to mention the little darlings on her blog from time to time.
This salad though – oh people – it is so good! Simple and fresh and garlicky.
We have two kinds of grape tomatoes this year, our usual “Juliets” and these crazy delicious “Green Tigers”. I swear they are the sweetest tomatoes I have ever had, and they are pretty prolific producers besides. And together they make a beautiful salad – almost too pretty to eat. Not quite though, because we have lots more tomatoes out in the garden, and we can always make a new salad when we eat this one up.

Marinated Tomato Salad
Ingredients
- About 2 pounds of grape or cherry tomatoes
- 1/2 medium onion
- 1/3 cup red wine vinegar
- 1 garlic clove
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 5 or 6 grinds fresh black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon honey
- 1/2 cup good olive oil
- 5 or 6 good sized fresh basil leaves
Instructions
- Cut the tomatoes into slices, or quarters, depending on the type that you use.
- Slice the onion very thinly, and separate into rings
- Combine the tomatoes and onions very gently in a medium sized bowl.
- Put the red wine vinegar in a deep sided bowl
- Use a microplane or other fine grater to grate the garlic into the vinegar, and stir them together - allow to sit for 5 minutes.
- Add the salt, pepper and honey, and whisk together until the salt is dissolved and the honey is mixed in.
- Stream the oil in while whisking vigorously, until it is all incorporated.
- Lay the basil leaves one atop the other, and then roll the stack into a tight tube - use a very sharp knife to cut into fine ribbons - pull them out with your fingers to get them separated,
- Add the dressing and the basil to the tomatoes, and stir gently.
- Allow to sit at room temperature for about 2 hours and then serve.
- Best eaten the same day, but refrigerate any leftovers.
And even little baby granddaughters think it is pretty good stuff!

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I love garlicky tomato salads! This is simple and delicious.
Thanks Angie – hope that you give it a try!
This is going to be a great change from all the caprese salads we’ve been eating. Love the vinaigrette and your tomatoes are beautiful!
Oh, I don’t know MJ – a little fresh mozzarella in there would not be a bad thing! 😉
Congratulations on your brand new grandchild! This salad looks delicious. I’m jealous of your homegrown tomatoes!
Thanks Lisa – he is a little sweetie! I’m to the point of getting tired of looking at tomatoes actually – been running the canner for days I think!
This looks great. Are those green tomatoes just unripened cherry?
They stay green – and the sweetest grape tomatoes we have ever had! They’re called Green Tiger.