Simple Cooking: Tomato-Pesto Salad

By Caitlin Klein in Food on Aug 22, 2012 4:00PM

Ode to the humble tomato: There's nothing quite like a ripe tomato in the summertime. Especially if you can get it from a garden somewhere. (Swiping them, however, is not recommended. Ask first.) It's already the middle of August, but the tomatoes are still kickin'. Thanks to our hot summer, tomato crops have been abundant and you can find them everywhere at the grocery store and farmers markets.

Take advantage of the awesome tomatoes right now and try our simple summer salad. You can make your own pesto* or just buy some, but any way you do it, this salad tastes like summer. It’s simple, and with only three ingredients, the tomatoes are the star.

*Try Chicagoist's Presto Pesto or Basil Pesto.

Ingredients (serves 3-4)
3-4 dark red ripe tomatoes
1 handful of fresh basil leaves
½ cup-3/4 cup pesto

Dice the tomatoes. Don’t discard the juice that seeps out - place the tomatoes in a bowl and get the juice in there too. Pour the pesto over the tomatoes. Use salad tossers or tongs to coat the tomatoes with the pesto completely. This is where the tomato juices come in handy - they will thin the pesto and allow the spread to become thin enough to get everybody coated.

Sprinkle basil leaves on top of the salad. Serve immediately.