Tomato, Onion, and Roasted Lemon Salad

Choosing the all important ingredients

This salad is super simple, but relies on top quality ingredients.

THE TOMATOES

This is the month for tomatoes, for sure. Just look at the crazy colorful and oddly shaped mini heirlooms I found at the farmer’s market yesterday. They look like teeny eggplants! The woman at the stand told me what they are called, but I’ve forgotten, so if anyone knows, give a shout out in the comments. I mixed them with tiny round cherry tomatoes for this salad.

THE LEMON

Choose a thin skinned lemon, if possible, hopefully with few seeds. We’re going to be slicing and roasting them for the salad, and you’ll eat them, peel and all for a burst of bright, pleasantly bitter flavor in the salad. A Meyer lemon will also work.

The pomegranate molasses dressing

It’s the most deliciously thick, tangy reduction of pomegranate juice and it is the kind of ingredient than can make a huge difference in lots of things, from sauces and stews to salad dressings. It’s a key ingredient in one of my favorite easy chicken dishes, Pomegranate and Lime Chicken Thighs.

• I have a recipe for making homemade pomegranate molasses. 
• You can also find it online, if you have trouble locating it in your supermarket.

This salad comes together quickly, the most tedious part is slicing all the small tomatoes in half. Don’t be tempted to do this ahead of time, though, as cut tomatoes and fresh basil are incredibly time sensitive. You can make the roasted lemon ahead, if you like.

I always make a few tomato salads in August as a swan song for summer. I tend to get interested in fall cooking pretty early, so it’s now or never for me. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did.

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Tomato, Onion, and Roasted Lemon Salad

4.41 from 5 votes

Tomato, Onion, and Roasted Lemon Salad is a vibrant Ottolenghi recipe made with ripe tomatoes, red onion, charred lemon, and a pomegranate molasses dressing spiced with allspice.

Print Recipe Rate Recipe

Prep Time:25 minutes minutes

Total Time:25 minutes minutes

Equipment

• Sheet pan
• parchment paper

Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

• 1 Iemon
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 pints mixed cherry heirloom tomatoes, washed and halved
• 1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced
• one large handful of small basil leaves
• several Tbsp fresh mint leaves
• 1 cup spring lettuce mix, for the base of the salad

Pomegranate Allspice Dressing

• 2 Tbsp pomegranate molasses
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp ground allspice
• salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

Instructions

• Set oven to 350F
• Wash the lemon well, and then cut it in half lengthwise. Slice it in very thin slices, and remove all the seeds.
• Toss the slices with the sugar and oil, and then lay them out on a lined baking sheet. Roast for about 20 minutes, until they are just beginning to char around the edges. Set them aside to cool.
• Whisk together the dressing.
• Line a large shallow salad bowl with the spring mix lettuce, and then arrange the tomatoes, onion slices, fresh herbs and lemon slices on top. Toss lightly with the dressing and serve immediately. The salad will not wait!

Notes

recipe slightly adapted from Yotam Ottolenghi

NOTES ~ Click here to add your own private notes.

Course: Salad

Cuisine: Mediterranean

Author: Sue Moran

Keyword: healthy, Ottolenghi, salad, side dish, summer, tomatoes, vegan, vegetables, vegetarian

Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. This information comes from online calculators. Although The View from Great Island attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates.

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