Cherry tomato and lemon salad

Contributed by Preston Maring, MD


Cherry tomato and lemon salad

Having cherry tomatoes in the backyard is one of those little pleasures in life — they have such potential.  At their simplest, they serve as garden candy.  They can also be one of 23 ingredients in a recipe I am highly unlikely to prepare. 

The recipe offered below is elegantly simple and very refreshing.  Check out the short video of the tomatoes that gave themselves for this salad.

Servings: 4

Ingredients

  • 2 large lemons peeled and cut into sections (see directions below for how to supreme a lemon)
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1 pound cherry or grape tomatoes (3 cups), halved or, if large, quartered
  • 3 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
  • 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions

  1. Slice the ends off of the lemons so they stand up flat on your cutting board. 
  2. Slice off the peel following the contours of the lemon.  Cut the segments away from the membranes over a bowl so you catch the juice.  This part seems a little tedious but it is actually kind of satisfying.  Remove the seeds. 
  3. Cut the segments crosswise into 1/4 inch slices (or whatever). 
  4. Toss the tomatoes, lemons, juice, sugar, and olive oil together.  
  5. Mix in the chives.  Season to taste. 
  6. Serve and enjoy.

Yes, it is 3/4 of a teaspoon of sugar per person in this recipe, but it greatly reduces the amount of oil needed to balance the acidity of the lemon. It's a lot less than the 13 teaspoons of sugar the average adult gets per day in sugared beverages.

Nutrition information (per serving)

  • Calories: 101
  • Total fat: 7 g
  • Saturated fat: 1 g
  • Trans fat: 0 g
  • Cholesterol: 0 mg
  • Sodium: 55 mg
  • Total carbohydrate: 10 g
  • Dietary fiber: 2 g
  • Protein: 1 g

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