Heirloom tomato salad with tomato conserva dressing

I had the most delicious experience last week. My vegetarian daughter was in town and we checked off an item on our bucket list and dinned at the very veggie centered restaurant, “Natural Selection” in Portland. This restaurant has been on our list for a while since it received many awards shortly after its opening in March of 2011. Now many of you might know that drawing attention in the abundant Portland (Oregon) culinary scene is impressive, but to get this highest praise and be a vegetarian restaurant…. Astounding. Many paleo/primal folks roll their eyes at the vegetarians and positively snort at the vegans. Most of the time, their diets are grains based and I think that is what gets the paleo crowd all riled up.

But “Natural Selection” is different. Their dishes are all vegetable based, which is different than vegetarian, but kinda the same. Let me explain… the dishes are comprised solely of veggies, not tofu, tempeh, grains or any manner of vegetarian “protein”. They are made completely of local veggies in colorful and delicious combinations. You can tell the chef Aaron Woo has fun developing these playful dishes and it is paying off, the place is wildly popular.

This is an indication of an undercurrent that has been surging forward in the culinary scene for a while. Chefs are getting into playing with veggies and not just treating them as a “side” dish but presenting them in the same glory and love as a hunk of prime rib. Some of the veggie centered dishes I have had the pleasure of enjoying lately are eggplant fritters with zucchini “noodles” in an orange heirloom tomato sauce and grilled cauliflower steaks with olive and tomato relish.

Heirloom tomato salad with tomato conserva dressing

This time of year it is easy to get creative with all the abundance of veggies dancing around us. This has been a fine year for tomatoes (finally!) and boy oh boy have I been having fun with all the delicious heirloom tomatoes that are glutting the farmer’s market. They have been a part of almost every meal served in our house for the last two weeks. Ah, why oh why is it such a short season?? Every time I eat one of these colorful and tasty delights, I morn just a bit at how it won’t be much longer. Then I read an article in “Fine Cooking” on how to save the season with slow roasting tomatoes in a bit of olive oil and garlic. I decided to give it a try and was more than pleasantly surprised!

The tomatoes are deep and richly flavored with an intense “tomatoey” taste that might rival a fresh tomato. They are easy to chop and add to anything that you want to add a flavor kick to like salads, eggs, casseroles, steaks and on veggies. Making these flavor nuggets is easy but takes about 4 hours of slow roasting, so take that into account, but they are worth it! This Friday is the last farmer’s market, so get down there, stock up on sun filled tomatoes and make some tomato conversa to play with and save some summer in the freezer.

Tomato conserva

Tomatoes conserva

 

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Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

5 hours

Total time

5 hours 15 mins

 

What a wonder way to pu away some of those tomatoes that are everywhere!

Author: Cavewoman Cafe

Ingredients

• 4 pounds of juicy red tomatoes like beefsteak
• 2 medium garlic cloves, sliced into thin pieces
• ⅓ cup of high quality olive oil
• Coarse salt like Netarts Bay salt and fresh ground pepper

Instructions

1. First off, buy your organic tomatoes at the farmer’s market and revel in their beauty. When you are ready, position the racks in the oven to the top of the oven. Turn on the oven and heat it up to 350 degrees. Slice the tomatoes into ¼ inch thick rounds and place in a single layer on two rimmed baking sheets. Drizzle the oil over the red ripe beauties so they are all oiled, place a slice of garlic on some of the tomatoes then sprinkle with salt and pepper and pop in the oven.
2. Lower the heat to 225 degrees and slowly roast 4-5 hours, only peeking in on them a few times to rotate the pans. The tomatoes will start to look wrinkly and like juicy sun dried tomatoes. Watch them closely towards the end as they can burn easily at that point. Let them cool for 10 minutes before using. Eat slowly and with relish. Will keep in the fridge in an airtight container for up to a week and frozen for up to a couple months. Longer if vacuum sealed.

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Heirloom tomato salad with tomato conserva dressing

Tomatoe conserva vinaigrette with fresh tomatoes

 

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Prep time

15 mins

Total time

15 mins

 

The dressing is amazing and can be used on any salad. I really like to use the marinated fresh mozzarella bite sized balls in this salad. You can get them most anywhere. Fine cooking suggested burrata, which is a fresh mozzarella with soft creamy insides, but I haven’t found that in my small town anywhere.

Author: Cavewoman Cafe

Recipe type: Adapted from Fine Cooking

Serves: 4 servings

Ingredients

• The dressing
• ¼ cup of tomato conserva,
• chopped ¼ cup of Extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar
• ½ teaspoon of salt and pepper
• The salad
• 1-2 pounds of heirloom tomatoes,
• sliced ¼ inch thick 8 oz of fresh mozzarella or burrata (optional)
• 10 or so basil leaves, chiffonade
• Flaky sea salt such as Maldon’s for serving

Instructions

1. Put all the ingredients for the dressing in a small jar with a tight lid and shake it up. Shake it good! Layer the tomato slices on four salad plates and then add 2 oz of the cheese to each plate, sprinkle with the basil and sea salt, drizzle with the dressing and serve. Voila! Fun with veggies.

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