Heirloom Tomato and Pesto Salad

This weeks farmers market was filled with tomatoes!  All shapes and sizes were represented with a ton of heirloom varietals.  The vast array of tomatoes inspired me to make a salad that really celebrates the season.  These tomatoes are easily twice as good as anything you could find at the supermarket and worth seeking out.  For this recipe the more colors, the more variety, the better your salad will look and taste.  My suggestion is to visit the local farmers market or even better, pick some tomatoes from your own garden.  Tomatoes from Florida ripened with ethylene gas just aren't going to cut it here.  One taste of this salad and you're sure to be making it again and again. Here are a few shots from Sunday morning at our Denver Farmers Market:

Serves 2-4

Heirloom Tomato and Pesto Salad


Ingredients


4-5 of the best tomatoes you can find
1/4 cup of your favorite pesto, homemade

Directions


Dice tomatoes with a sharp knife, doing your best not to squish them.  In a medium bowl, mix in pesto.

Serve immediately.

Beet Sashimi

This was the welcome finding of combining golden beets with red beets when pickling them.  I cooked the beets until tender, peeled them, and let them cool.  Next I put them in a mason jar, added some balsamic vinegar, salt and covered them with water.  I put a lid on them, refrigerated them overnight and they were delicious the next day.  The longer they sit in the liquid, the deeper the flavor.  Eat within 3 weeks. 

Beet Sashimi

Winter Pesto Crostinis

Makes 20 to 25 crostinis

This is a great seasonal recipe that you can eat year round.  It is so flavorful you wouldn’t even know there was no basil in it.  It is also incredibly healthy.

Ingredients

1 cup kale, torn into small pieces and stems removed
1 cup spinach, loosely packed
½ cup parsley, loosely packed
½ cup nuts (pine nuts, hazelnuts, macadamia, any mild nut will work)
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 tsp fresh rosemary, stem removed
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
½ tsp salt
Pinch red pepper flakes
delicious bread or crackers (I like a crusty baguette)


Instructions

Prepare an ice bath in a large bowl to cool the kale after cooking.  Bring a pot of water to a boil then add kale and blanch for 4 minutes.  Remove kale with slotted spoon and place immediately in ice bath to cool down.  Once cool, drain excess water from kale.

Add everything except bread and olive oil to a food processor.  Drizzle olive oil into the processor while pulsing.  Do not over process; we’re not making baby food here.

Spoon about 1 tsp of the pesto on each crostini and grate fresh Parmesan over the top.