Herbed Tomato Salad with Goat Cheese

When your patio garden is producing lots of tomatoes you find yourself eating lots of tomato salads topped with goat cheese, herbs and flavored oil.

Hello friends! This beautiful picture is a great example of how I also experience lunch on many summer days especially when it's tomato season. It looks like it's not much of a lunch I know but you would be surprised how much of a punch the herbs bring to the tomatoes. Once you add cheese and drizzle with oil... it turns into the perfect treat to spoon on top of freshly made crusty bread. Which is what I like to do.

Creamy Cheese

Now the creamy cheese in the picture is goat cheese / goat cheese is excellent with tomatoes and I just love any type of soft cheese like goat cheese, but I don't always have goat cheese, so I use whatever type of cheese I have. When it comes to soft cheese you can go with Brie, cream cheese, camembert or any Italian soft cheese like ricotta, mascarpone, mozzarella etc.

Fresh Tomatoes

Well for me... I use whatever tomatoes are ready to eat from my patio garden. All my tomatoes are growing in large flowerpots so it's a true patio garden. At the moment I have 8 different varieties of tomatoes and sometimes my tomato salad is very colorful with its black tomatoes, red tomatoes and yellow tomatoes. When you have several varieties of tomatoes the sweet flavors are very different and the mix of them all together is a full body taste of sweetness that you just have to experience to know what I'm talking about. It's very satisfying.

Fresh Herbs

I go on and on about herbs all the time because I just love fresh herbs and tomato salad with fresh herbs in it is no different. In fact, it's soooo much a MUST when you're eating a tomato salad. You just can't skip this.

Is there a bad herb to use on tomatoes? I haven't found one yet that tasted bad but I'm sure I haven't tried the whole list of herbs to really say. I do however know I use thyme, oregano, rosemary, chives, sweet basil, purple basil... gosh I use all the basils.

Oil & Vinegars

Now you can find tomato salad recipes all over the Internet. Everything from those using olive oil to flavored oil to balsamic vinegar to red wine vinegar to apple cider vinegar used in it. I usually use whatever I have in the kitchen. I enjoy making flavored oils and vinegars so there's no telling what I reach for to drizzle on top. Some people even marinate the tomatoes for a time before they serve. I know some people splash it with lemon juice too.

Sugar & Garlic

Some recipes call for sugar sprinkled on top but for when since I use a variety of tomatoes, I don't need the sweetness, so I pass on that. Garlic is another option, but many will pass on garlic if they are serving garlic bread.

Red Onion

Red onion is called for in many of the recipes. I love red onions, so I use it if I have it. Sometimes I chop them up really small and sometimes I just toss them in as ringlets.

.............................................................★☆★............................................................

My Closing Thoughts~

• 💰I think tomato salad is a budget lunch for sure. It costs very little to make this as a meal and is very refreshing on a hot summer day.
• 😁 Don't be afraid to try and toss in whatever you have and make your own recipe.
• 📅 National Tomato Month is celebrated every October. Serve a tomato salad in celebration of tomato month. May is National Salad Month.
• 🙏I am thankful for tomatoes. "Live everyday like a Holiday" Pam

.............................................................★☆★............................................................

It's the Season for Summer Salads and Mango Salsa

Seasonality of food refers to the times of year when a given type food is at its peak either in terms of harvest or its flavor. This is usually the time when the item is the cheapest and the freshest of the market. The food's peak time in terms of harvest usually coincides with when its flavor is at its best.

Seasonal Salads

Let's talk about what's in season for making fresh salads for summer here in the United States. Lettuce, cucumbers, peppers, basil, beans, peas, sweet corn and chanterelle mushrooms. Don't forget the fresh fruit either! A few of the summer fruits are cherries, blackberries, nectarines, apricots, mangos, watermelon, strawberries, peaches and raspberries. Add fruit to the side of green salads as a garnish or top it with lots of fruit for specialty theme salads. Remember that fruit salads are great served on the side of a meal or as a dessert. Now last but not least.... walnuts! Yes, walnuts are beautiful on top of a salad, and everyone knows all about the ever so popular Waldorf salad that features walnuts. You can have some very satisfying salads with any of these summer ingredients.

Salads always remind me of Salsa!

Salsa Salsa Salsa! What's in season for summer salsas?  • Cucumber  • Pepper  • Basil  • Sweetcorn cobs • Tomatoes • Chanterelle (mushrooms) • Mango  • Watermelon  • Jalapeno

So let's take a few seconds to look at the list while I sneak in a mango salsa recipe for you.

Mango & Cucumber Salsa Recipe: 

Perfect with halibut or salmon or as the salsa in fish tacos.

• 1 1/2 cups diced mango

• 1/2 medium red onion, finely chopped

• 1 Jalapeño chile, minced (this can be left out all together)

• 1 cup diced cucumber, peeled

• 3 Tbsp fresh cilantro leaves, chopped

• 3 Tbsp fresh lime juice

• Salt and pepper to taste

  Mix all together

.............................................................★☆★............................................................

Happy Summer Everyone! "Live everyday like a Holiday" Pam

.............................................................★☆★............................................................

Recipe for Green Goddess Dressing & Avocado Green Goddess

 A Blast from the Past Recipe that's still Great Today!

Today I'm talking about Green Goddess Dressing. Friends I really have to share this out to everyone because this is a fantastic recipe to have, especially if you have an herb garden. Many years ago, before ranch dressing took over the world... "Ha"... green goddess was one of the most popular salad dressings on the West Coast of the United States. This homemade dressing was on everyone's Sunday table. But then ranch dressing took over and the popularity of green goddess went away. 

Now for me it's still on my dinner table especially during the garden season when my herb garden has a full bounty of green goodness. And wow, talk about a great raw vegetable dip it makes! If you've never heard of it keep reading because I just know you're going to want to add it to your favorite recipes. For a party it is fantastic!  So today guys I wanted to share the definition, the recipe and a few fun facts about "Green Goddess Dressing" so here we go!

Definition:

Green goddess is a salad dressing, typically containing mayonnaise, sour cream, chervil, chives, anchovy, tarragon, lemon juice, and pepper. 

History

The dressing is named for its tint. The most accepted theory regarding its origins point to the Palace Hotel in San Francisco in 1923 when the hotel's executive chef at the time (Philip Roemer) wanted something to pay tribute to actor George Arliss and his hit play. The Green Goddess. He then concocted this dressing which like the play, became a hit. This dressing is a variation of a dressing originated in France by a Chef to Louis XIII who made a Sauce Au Vert (Green Sauce) which was traditionally served with 'Green Eel'.

In the early 1970s, salad dressing maker Seven Seas produced a bottled version of this dressing. It is still made in limited quantities, although the company has since been purchased by Kraft Foods. It is sold at online outlets, and I've bought it at Wal-Mart too. Green goddess dressing is an ingredient in several crab-based salad recipes, including that for the well-known Crab Louis.

Current

Now once upon a time, Trader Joe's made a version called simply Goddess Dressing, which was made with tahini and was beige in color rather than green. Annie's Naturals, a maker of natural salad dressings and sauces, made 2 similar versions, an ovo-lacto-vegetarian variant called Organic Green Goddess Dressing, as well as a vegan version similar to the original called Goddess Dressing. But that was my memory from years ago so I'm not sure if it's still made now. Like the Trader Joe's product, the Annie's Naturals Goddess Dressing was also made with tahini.

Example: Green Goddess Recipe

• 1/2 c mayonnaise

• 2 tbsp. chopped chives

• 2 tbsp. chopped parsley

• 1 tbsp. lemon juice

• 1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

• 1/4 tsp. dry mustard

• 1/4 tsp. finely chopped garlic

Combine all ingredients and mix thoroughly.

Makes 1/2 cup.

Example: Avocado Green Goddess

• 1 med. avocado, ripe & soft

• 1/2 c. chopped fresh chives

• 1 clove garlic

• 1/4 c. fresh chopped parsley

• 1 tbsp. dried tarragon

• 2 c. mayonnaise

• 1/4 c. tarragon vinegar

• 1 tbsp. lemon juice

Prepare at least 3 hours before serving.
Mash avocado until creamy and set aside.

Add garlic, parsley, tarragon, chives, vinegar, lemon juice and mayonnaise. Mix well until creamy. Refrigerate until using. You can use onions instead of chives, not as delicate though. You can use for vegetable dip or on lettuce as a salad.

.......................................................★☆★......................................................

Closing words to my readers ~

💡Friends, when I make my Green Goddess, I mostly use whatever herbs are looking good in my garden at the time so my amounts of each herb changes and also the type of herb changes. I have to tell you it always turns out great even if my amounts are different from the recipe. No fail for me.

I hope this post was helpful and inspiring. For those of you who have followed my posts over the many years may recognize the subject of today's post. I posted the recipe for Green Goddess in an old website that I once had about 10 years ago. It's good to be reminded of a good thing. Yes, a true blast from the past~

📸 If you ever want a close look at the picture I posted, just click the photo. It will expand in a large view window for a closer look. Then click the area you want to look even closer at and it will usually expand just that part of the photo too. 😀

📅 And as always, I've listed related 📅 calendar dates below 🠟, and any related shopping links 🛒 that would be helpful to this article. 

 It's so important to "Live everyday like a holiday." I hope you do that. Love Pam

.......................................................★☆★......................................................

📅 May / National Salad Month

📅 October 17 / Green Day

.......................................................★☆★......................................................

► 🛒 ❤ Green Goddess Dressing / https://amzn.to/3aUlOLN

► 🛒 ❤ Salad Gifts / https://amzn.to/3ty7kHX

.............................................................★☆★............................................................

Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0 / Photo

How To Build A Cancer Fighting Salad

Want to help your body fight cancer? The foods you put in your salad can help. Use this chart to build a cancer-fighting salad.

From Visually.

Caesar Salads Birthday!

It's Fourth of July in the United States but did you know that today is also Caesar Salads Birthday? Yep it sure is, today is National Caesar Salad Day!

A typical Caesar salad comprises romaine lettuce and croutons dressed with Parmesan cheese, lemon juice, olive oil, egg, Worcestershire sauce, sardines, and black pepper originally prepared tableside.

Happy Holidays Everyone! Pam