Cherry Tomato Salad from the Garden

My son was quite pleased with himself yesterday when he came to the back door with a bowl of cherry tomatoes. Huge bowl actually and too big for him to manage without leaving a trail all the way back to the garden. Many squashed along the way. After the weekend sauce making experiment he wanted to help some more. He particularly likes the washing part. And he carefully and very thoroughly washed every one of them. “Here mommy. This one’s good.”

So now what do I do with them all? I mean really. These things don’t make the best sauce. I suppose a fresh sauce would be okay since I could leave the skin on.. I’ll use a handful at a time in a salad..I’m running out of ideas….

Just a few short weeks ago I was complaining that we didn’t seem to have any cherry tomatoes this year. “The kids love the little ones, I wish we had some for them to snack on”. Actually I didn’t know what I had. Last year we planted three cherry tomato plants. And we soon realized this was way to much. One plant is more than enough to give the kids something to munch on and yields just enough fruit for a salad a couple of times per week.

But we are lazy gardeners. September hits and everyone seems to go back to school and work and our garden is generally neglected. So… last year’s plants were left to die off and apparently seed themselves. It was late June when we realized what had happened. I pulled out 100s of seedlings to make room for a few to grow. Not to mention we had already purchased and planted a handful of varieties from the garden shop. We really had no idea what was left. So now I have pounds.

Made a quick Cherry Tomato Salad last night with dinner:

Cherry Tomato Salad

Ingredients

• 2-3 cups of cherry tomatoes, cut in half lengthwise
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp red wine vinegar (could use any mild vinegar)
• 1 tsp sugar
• handful of fresh basil, chives and parsley, chopped
• salt and pepper

Directions:

Mix everything in a medium sized bowl and let sit for about 30 minutes before serving.

So I left this in the fridge while I made the rest of dinner and it was so yummy. Kids were a bit put off by the fresh herbs so next time I will know not to use so much or leave them off theirs.

Tomorrow I think I will stick them on skewers and throw them on the BBQ with veggie burgers and sweet corn!