Good Food
Pascale Beale’s Cherries and baby tomatoes with lemon basil and mint
From her new book, “Les Fruits,” this sweet and savory summer salad recipe by Pascale Beale pairs cherries with baby tomatoes.
By Evan Kleiman • • 1 min readEvery summer our markets are filled with a luxurious glut of fruits. But what do we do with them? Eat out of hand? Check. Make pies and crumbles? Check. Then what? Pascale Beale’s lovely book “Les Fruits: Savory and Sweet Recipes from the Market Table” is filled with ideas for putting fruit at the center of the plate.
Though we often associate fruit with sweet foods and desserts, cooking savory meals with fruit has a long history in Asian, Middle Eastern, African and European cuisines. From poultry and fish bathed in coconut milk in Thailand to the tang of duck à l’orange, Pascale deftly demonstrates how to use all the ripe fruit that is tempting us at the farmers’ market in “Les Fruits.” This summer salad recipe from the book pairs cherries with baby tomatoes. Another salad I can get behind!
Cherries and Baby Tomatoes with Lemon Basil and Mint
Yield: Serves 8
Ingredients
3 tbsps extra-virgin olive oil
1 tbsp Champagne vinegar
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 lb cherries, pitted
1 lb cherry tomatoes, different colors and varieties
1 large handful lemon basil leaves
1 large handful mint leaves
2 tbsps pistachios, coarsely chopped
Instructions
For the vinaigrette: Whisk together the olive oil and vinegar in a medium-sized salad bowl. Add a pinch of salt and 4 to 5 grinds of fresh pepper, to taste. Rest the serving utensils in the bowl, over the vinaigrette.
To serve: Place all the remaining ingredients over the serving utensils. When ready to serve, toss and combine well.