Nectarine & Tomato Salad
August 1, 2014

Yes, I know. Tomatoes with stone fruit? No way! That's what I thought, too. But this salad is unexpectedly delicious and celebrates the best of summer's most glorious flavors.

It is an exploration of taste: the sweet and sour of the nectarine really plays off the umami flavor of the tomato. Umami? You know, the savoriness.

This salad would have been a great illustration for last month's Food Lit book club selection, Umami:Unlocking the Secrets of the Fifth Taste. I wish I'd known about it in time for the meeting.

Tonight, I served it alongside Canal House Volume 4's  Halibut and Lentils With Fennel, plus lemon balm leaves.

When you make it for your own dinner, use the ripest, sweetest tomatoes you can find. If you fear that the combo of sweet and savory won't work for you, be assured that the mint, basil, pecans and feta will pull you through. 

On p. 109 of The Forest Feast, by Erin Gleeson. Try it, and let me know what you think in the comment section below.