Summer is ambling to a close and the garden’s offerings are
fresh and fragrant. Cherry tomato plants are welcome invaders, who entwine
themselves everywhere. Looking for the red spots and gathering them is a feast
for the nose before becoming one for the palate. It makes me want to bathe in
the sun and stock the heat. Nothing is better than a lazy lunch, where the
picking takes longer than the preparation. Such Provencial classics as pan
bagnat (literally wet bread) furnish the inspiration. At every corner of the
streets of Nice, you find sandwiches made out of tuna, tomato, salad soaked in
olive oil and vinegar. I prefer a salad made of cherry tomatoes, beets and
peaches seasoned with a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Do not forget to
soak your bread in the juices left over.
Ingredients:
6 beets
1 lbs (500g) cherry tomatoes
4 ripe peaches
Basil leaves
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste
Several slices of fresh country bread
Material:
Aluminum foil
Salad bowl
Remove
the tops of the beets and rinse the roots.
Wrap each root
in a foil. Add a drop of olive oil and bake in the oven at 360F (150C) for
about an hour or until easily pierced with a knife. When cool enough to handle,
remove the skin and slice the vegetables.
Wash
the cherry tomatoes and remove the stems.
Peel
and slice the peaches. Discard the pit.
Toss
the fruit and vegetables in a salad bowl. Add oil and vinegar.
Layers the washed basil leaves and
roll them in a tube. Snip with the scissors over the salad bowl.
Serves 2.
The longer the salad stays in the
sun, the better it will taste.
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