Antonia, the lady that does the washing up at the restaurant, gave us a tub full of her homegrown cherry tomatoes yesterday.
I thought about roasting them but I really did not want to put the oven on today. It’s far too hot for all that so I made my favourite summer salad instead, Ensalada de Tomate y Ajo (Tomato and garlic salad).
I first had this salad in Bar Sardina, a restaurant/tapas bar in Alhaurin that has been around for 92 years, apparently. They are well-known for their fresh seafood especially the Conchas Finas which are like a cross between a scallop (they have a coral) and a clam. They are indigenous to Malaga and are traditionally served raw, with a glass of Fino (dry sherry).
Being a vegetarian, it is normally quite difficult to find something to eat if you go out to typically Spanish restaurants . Fortunately Bar Sardina has three dishes that I can order, all of them being fantastic. This salad is so simple but so delicious, which is what for me, sums up Spanish cuisine. It’s all about the ingredients and letting them do what they do best.
The best, in season, sweet tomatoes are mixed with lots of fresh garlic, drizzled with Andalucian extra virgin olive oil, good Jerez (sherry) vinegar and seasoned with sea salt, black pepper and some fresh parsley. That’s it.
Ensalada de Tomate y Ajo Recipe
serves 2, vegan, gluten-free
- about 400 gr ripe tomatoes (I used cherry tomatoes)
- 3 large cloves garlic, finely chopped
- a handful of fresh parsley, finely chopped
- 2 or 3 tbsp extra virgen olive oil
- 2 or 3 tsp good Jerez (sherry) vinegar
- sea salt & black pepper
Wash the tomatoes and cut them into halves or quarters for cherry tomatoes or into wedges for normal tomatoes. Mix them with the garlic and parsley in a bowl and drizzle them generously with olive oil, then add the sherry vinegar.
Leave to marinate for a while if you can and then season well with the sea salt and black pepper. Taste and adjust vinegar/seasoning.
Tip into a serving dish, garnish with a little more parsley and serve as part of a meal like the Spanish do. 
Or you can do like I did and eat it with some of my sundried tomato & basil focaccia (or any nice bread) to soak up the gorgeous garlicky, tomatoey juices.
This is the perfect simple summer salad, enjoy this right now when tomatoes are at their best.
Things That Made Me Smile Today……
The pomegranate flowers turning into the fruit…
Another sure sign that Autumn is just around the corner.
I’m so looking forward to the cooler weather….!
Cook Eat Live Vegetarian 
That looks so tasty. Fantastic pics too!
http://www.mangledlollipop.wordpress.com
This salad sounds terrific! Thank you I shall try it.
This is so perfect. I love liberal amounts of garlic. Katherine recently used sherry in marinated tomatoes. It was wonderful.
A little bit of dry sherry in a bloody mary is amazing too, it’s called a bloody maria!
What a gorgeous dish, this looks delicious!! 🙂
I´m not a vegetarian but sometimes eating out I just don´t fancy meat or fish and long for something vegetarian and imaginative (i.e. not just a tortilla!). Often I ask for this with lots of bread….I love it, my life would not be complete without tomatoes. PS. have left the dates of the racing in a response to your question on my site.
Love the addition of sherry to the tomatoes. They sound divine!!
This post made me smile today 🙂 Those tomatoes are stunning and those pomegranate are super cool! Great little salad. Perfect way to beat the heat 🙂
Love summer tomatoes… and garlic! And YES, I can’t wait for cooler weather either!
Nothing better than a simple salad with home grown tomatoes. I’m so envious looking at those pomegranates growing, I wish we could ge them to grow here, I’m struggling with figs and they don’t mind the colder climates.
You make the colorful tomato looks even more alive 🙂
Que memorias o Bar Sardinas guapa !! Didnt we share this when we were last there, with some Conchas and a couple of bottles of vino blanco ??
This looks stunning and is, often the simple things in life…….. xx
Home grown cherry tomatoes…how divine. Last Summer, we had a haul of these beauties ourselves for the first time, and I loved how they held their own taste wise (like, bursting with flavour!) An uncooked salad is defo the way to go with these tasty babies!
Graet photos! loved tseeing the pomegrande turning into fruit
I think I’ll stop at the farmer’s market on Saturday and make this simple dish. There is nothing like fresh tomatoes in the summer. Maybe I’ll add some of the yellow tomatoes I’ve seen at the market lately. It would make the dish even more colorful.
I love the photos of the pomegranates. I don’t recall ever seeing the flowers into fruit before. Thanks for sharing that.
Adding sherry, perfect! Such a nice summer snack. Simple dishes like this are so tasty on hot nights.
I grow my own cherry tomatoes and it’s great they are so versatile because I have so many!!
A seriously beautiful summer salad!
This looks so simple, yet absolutely delightful.
Oh, this is my ideal salad…just fabulous! And what incredible pomegranate photos~
This looks so fresh and flavorful…I love fresh vine-ripened tomatoes!
Mmmm, nothing like fresh tomatoes from the garden! I love them with balsamic vinager!