Minimal Monday: Tomato Salad with Burrata Cheese

I don’t know if there’s a heaven, but if there is, I’m pretty sure they serve this for lunch…a beautiful, light, and healthy tomato salad, with a big blob of cream filled burrata cheese right in the middle of the plate.   The luxurious cheese is your reward for lunching on wedges of fresh heirloom tomatoes lightly dressed with olive oil and fruity vinegar.

I know it’s a little early in the season for tomatoes, but this can serve as inspiration for the days ahead.  I love to pick through a big pile of heirloom tomatoes for just the right combination of colors.  I could stand there for hours!   Even then, you never know exactly what you’ve got until you cut into them.  Heirloom tomatoes are jaw-droppingly beautiful, but their flavor is mellow.   The key to this salad is combining them with the sharper, tangier bite of smaller tomatoes.  The nice thing is that small cherry sized tomatoes are available all year long, and their acidity works really well with the rich cheese.  Just remember that no matter how small your tomatoes are, cut them in half to allow their juice and flavor to permeate the salad.

For this salad I plucked the only the smallest basil leaves and tucked them in here and there.  That way the basil doesn’t get bruised and it stays fresh and green.  Put this salad together at the last minute right before you want to eat because you want everything at its freshest.  The juices from the tomatoes will mix with the olive oil and the vinegar to form nature’s best dressing.  You only need to add salt and pepper just before you break apart the burrata cheese.  I’m getting all worked up just thinking about it!

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Tomato Burrata Salad

Ingredients

• heirloom tomatoes of varying colors
• smaller cherry or strawberry tomatoes
• a handful of small basil leaves
• a ball of burrata cheese
• olive oil
• fruity vinegar or whatever vinegar you like
• salt and freshly cracked black pepper

Instructions

• Slice the heirloom tomatoes into wedges and cut the smaller tomatoes in half.
• Arrange them on a plate or shallow bowl with the ball of burrata cheese in the center.
• Just before serving, tuck the basil leaves in and drizzle with olive oil and vinegar. Season with salt and fresh cracked black pepper.

Notes

Make this salad just before serving, and eat it all up in one sitting, tomatoes don't keep well in the refrigerator.