Heirloom tomato salad with olives, basil and sumac

A fresh, zingy and delicious summer tomato salad. Easy to make, and ready to eat in under 10 minutes! A terrific side-dish and great for picnics & barbecues.

The heirloom tomato plants in our garden have finally started to produce delicious ripe tomatoes, and we are now at the stage of eating them at every meal, and giving them away to anyone who’ll take them!

What are heirloom tomatoes?

Heirloom tomatoes, sometimes called heritage tomatoes, are traditional varieties of tomato that are not typically commercially grown. They come in a range of different sizes, shapes and colours.

Since they are usually grown in gardens and allotments, heirloom tomatoes are riper when picked, and thus have a shorter shelf-life than commercial varieties. However they are usually sweeter and have a more interesting flavour profile.

There may also be more variability between tomato fruits from a single plant than those grown for sale, where uniformity is prized.

Finally, heirloom tomatoes ‘breed true’ which means that you can save the seeds from your tomato one year, and grow more of the same tomatoes the following year.

Easy and delicious!

The tomatoes really are delicious with very little in the way of embellishment.

We’ve been eating them whole, sliced, or quartered with nothing more than a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and occasionally a pinch of salt. Garden tomato sandwiches are the business too.

I’ve also enjoyed them arranged in a layer on top of cream-cheese toast, and sprinkled with freshly ground black pepper. It’s hard to think of a way to eat them that isn’t delicious!

The raw and the cooked

Our heirloom tomatoes are also pretty good cooked. I chucked a handful of tiny cherry tomatoes into a chunky vegetable sauce for pasta and they transformed into explosive flavour bombs of deliciousness. Wow!

They’re great roasted with garlic, herbs and olive oil. Or you can dry them in a low oven and pack into jars of extra virgin olive oil to enjoy with cheese or salads over the coming months.

Tomato salad

A favourite way to use a lot of tomatoes at once, and really bring out their delicious flavours, is in a tomato salad.

Tomato salad can be as simple as a drizzle of balsamic, or as complicated as you like! Depending on how much time I have I might get more or less carried away adding things to the salad.

The recipe below is a medium complexity level tomato salad! It has a handful of ingredients, but is still quick to prepare. I love this salad because you can mix it up and be eating it in just a few minutes!

Quick tomato salad – ingredients

If you want to make your fresh, ripe tomatoes into a delicious salad, I recommend trying this one. It’s quick and easy to make and so, so good! All you need to make it is:

• Tomatoes – of course! You can make it with just one type of tomato but a variety of different sorts and sizes is tastier and more interesting.
• Black olives – so great with the tomatoes
• Fresh basil – I used Greek basil because it has tiny leaves that don’t need chopping. However you can use ‘regular’ basil instead and just shred the leaves before adding them to the salad.
• Sumac – really brings out the flavour of the tomatoes.
• White balsamic or white wine vinegar – to add a touch of acidity.
• Extra virgin olive oil – to make a delicious dressing.

Delicious heirloom tomato salad

The recipe below is for a super-tasty and extremely simple and quick heirloom tomato salad. I love this tomato salad! The basil is fragrant, the sumac adds a fantastic hint of sharpness, and the olives are salty and savoury alongside the sweet and juicy tomatoes. What a combo!

We ate this tomato salad with some smoked mackerel and herby rice for a quick mid-week dinner.

These quantities made enough tomato salad for 4 people as a side dish. The amounts are purposely vague – adjust the proportions of olives/tomatoes/basil/etc to your taste.

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📖 Recipe

Heirloom tomato salad with olives, Greek basil and sumac

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A fresh, zingy and delicious summer tomato salad. Easy to make, and ready to eat in under 10 minutes! A terrific side-dish and great for picnics & barbecues.

5 from 1 vote

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Total Time 10 minutes mins

Course Salad, Side Dish

Cuisine Vegan

Servings 4

Calories 152 kcal

Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

 

1x2x3x

• 400 g heirloom tomatoes – ideally several varieties, freshly picked!
• 3-4 tablespoon sliced black olives
• 1 handful greek basil leaves (or use ordinary basil leaves, shredded)
• 1 teaspoon sumac
• 2 tablespoon white balsamic vinegar or white wine vinegar
• 4 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Instructions

 

• Halve, quarter or cut the tomatoes into chunky pieces, and place in a bowl.
• Scatter over the olive slices, basil leaves and sumac. Add the vinegar and oil and mix gently to coat.
• Serve straightaway, or else chill for up to an hour to allow the flavours to blend before eating.

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts

Heirloom tomato salad with olives, Greek basil and sumac

Amount per Serving

Calories

152

% Daily Value*

Fat

 

15

g

23

%

Saturated Fat

 

2

g

13

%

Polyunsaturated Fat

 

2

g

Monounsaturated Fat

 

11

g

Sodium

 

99

mg

4

%

Potassium

 

243

mg

7

%

Carbohydrates

 

4

g

1

%

Fiber

 

1

g

4

%

Sugar

 

3

g

3

%

Protein

 

1

g

2

%

Vitamin A

 

862

IU

17

%

Vitamin C

 

14

mg

17

%

Calcium

 

14

mg

1

%

Iron

 

1

mg

6

%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Keyword herbs, olive, olive oil, tomato

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More delicious tomato recipes

If you love to enjoy the summer’s fresh and juicy tomatoes, why not also try:

• quick courgette (zucchini) and cherry tomato pasta
• easy fresh tomato salsa
• sea bass with sauce vierge
• tomato, green bean and lemon sole tray bake

More tasty salad recipes

If it’s delicious vegetable salads that you’re after, take a look at:

• classic French carrot salad
• easy beetroot carpaccio with feta and mint
• Asian style sesame green bean salad
• summer pea and bean salad with radishes and dill

I’m entering this delicious, fresh and zingy tomato salad into a number of foodie blogging challenges. They are Four Seasons Food, hosted by Delicieux & Eat Your Veg, which this month has the theme tomato crazy! Simple and in Season, hosted this month by Elizabeth’s Kitchen Diary , and organised by Ren at renbehan.com. And the Spice Trail, hosted by Vanesther at Bangers and Mash, which is looking for beach barbecue recipes. I think this salad would be great addition to any barbecue or picnic menu.