I will happily eat a leafy green salad dotted with ripe cherry tomatoes, but my garden doesn’t grow on that schedule. Spring offers an abundance of various greens, while I’m just settling tomato starts into the greenhouse. Lettuces bolt long before cherry tomatoes form on their vines, and only a small fall crop of spinach usually overlaps with the fully ripened globes.
To pair spring and summer vegetables, I capture the flavor of cherry tomatoes in the freezer and then thaw and blend them into a salad dressing. Cherry tomatoes are incredibly easy to freeze: wash, remove any stems and pop them whole into a labeled freezer-safe bag. When thawed, they easily burst their skins, which break down into a nearly smooth puree in a food processor or blender. Sweet 100s and other red tomatoes make the brightest dressing, but a golden-hued blend made with Sungolds or an earth-toned one featuring heirloom Black Cherry tomatoes tastes as delicious.
Alliums and dried herbs round out the homegrown flavors of this dressing. Anchovies give it a salty depth, but leave them out or substitute a splash of soy sauce for a vegan version.
Sun-ripened cherry tomatoes are usually sweet enough that you can skip the sugar, but it balances more acidic tomatoes and spicy or bitter spring vegetables, like radishes, arugula and curly endive. With just a touch of sugar, the dressing also hints at the sweet-and-sour flavor of American-style French dressing – without the overpowering ketchup taste of commercial brands.
I use a food processor to emulsify the extra-virgin olive oil into this dressing, because the tomatoes mask the extra bitterness that can develop when you blend this oil at high speed. If your food processor’s cover doesn’t have a feed tube or you’re particularly sensitive to olive oil’s bitter polyphenols, whisk it in by hand.
When cherry tomatoes hit their peak in late summer, substitute fresh ones into this dressing, along fresh herbs. It’s tasty on a range of salads, including potato, pasta and couscous salads, and as a marinade or sauce for grilled or sautéed shrimp and vegetables.
Tomato and Herb Salad Dressing
Makes about 3/4 cup
1 clove garlic, crushed
3 tablespoons coarsely chopped shallot
2 anchovy fillets (optional)
4 ounces frozen cherry tomatoes, thawed
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon dried basil
1 tablespoon dried flat-leaf parsley
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1-1/2 teaspoons granulated sugar (optional)
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
In a food processor or blender, finely chop the garlic, shallots and anchovy fillets, if desired. Scrape in the cherry tomatoes and puree all solids and juice. Add the lemon juice, basil, parsley and salt and puree until smooth. Taste and add the sugar and pepper as needed. With the motor running, slowly add the olive oil until it is fully incorporated. Thin the dressing with a splash of water if it is too thick. Use immediately or refrigerate in a lidded jar and use within a few weeks.
Julie Laing is a Bigfork-based cookbook author and food blogger. Learn more about this month’s salad dressing and risotto workshops at TwiceAsTasty.com.