Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Tomatoes with Dijon Vinaigrette

I have to admit it. The only reason I am posting this recipe is because I want to share these photos I took of this tomato salad. The lighting was hitting the bowl so nicely, and I ended up taking scores of photos; so many that it was hard to chose which were my favorites!

So here are a few of the photos.

Orange is my favorite color, and I really love how many shades of orange I was able to capture and how nicely the orange contrasts with its complimentary color, blue.

So, here is my simple tomato salad.

Tomatoes with Dijon Vinaigrette
salad dressing recipe given to me by my French host sister, Patricia

glob of spicy mustard (Dijon or French Red Hot Pepper Moustarde au Piment d'Espelette)
1 big spoon of vinegar or lemon juice (any vinegar, but red wine or balsamic are very nice)
2 big spoons of extra virgin olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
fresh chopped herbs, if desired

Stir together the mustard and vinegar or juice. Then whisk while slowly pouring in the oil to emulsify. Stir in fresh herbs, if desired. Salt and pepper to taste. Let the dressing rest for up to an hour before dressing your salad. After dressing the salad, serve immediately.

If too strong, add more oil. If too weak, add more vinegar.

Note: this dressing is great on many vegetables: shredded carrot salad, corn and pepper salad, tomatoes, lettuce, etc.
at

3 comments:

  1. AnaMarch 28, 2008 at 8:14 AM

    Beautiful pictures, I love it too! Love the color!
    Oh, and I also love vinaigrette with Dijon mustard, it is one of the the best salad dressings, yum!!
    Ana

    ReplyDelete
  2. ColorJoy LynnHMarch 31, 2008 at 9:53 PM

    The photos are gorgeous. And I sooo want your bowl!!!

    The dressing sounds great. I can't have prepared mustards as they all have vinegar. Maybe some of my Eden Foods pure wasabi powder and some mustard seeds (just bought a tiny mortar and pestle so I could break them up just a little). Maybe some mustard powder as well.

    I've never had Dijon mustard, not sure what else is in it? Any pepper or anything else?

    This week I've been putting cilantro on everything. I made some pseudo-tortillas with rice and rye which turned out very good but very time consuming.

    And we made a crockpot meal substituting african creamy-fleshed yams for sweet potatoes. Very nice, though they are dry compared to the orange ones so we needed to add some water.

    Anyway, the food here is becoming such a focus I almost need a second blog just for that, it gets ignored to make room for knitting stuff.

    Hope you are happy and well. It was almost 60 degrees here today, mean thunderstorms, a few daffodil buds. Finally.

    Lynnie

    ReplyDelete
  3. KathleenApril 1, 2008 at 7:05 AM

    Hi Ana, thanks!

    Hi Lynn! Oh, yes, you could absolutely use mustard powder instead of dijon mustard. To make this w/out vinegar, use lemon or other citrus juice, and about 1/4 teaspoon mustard powder (then more to taste if needed). Or you could also use mustard seeds like you said. I wonder if the mustard seeds would work better if they were toasted ligthly first until they start popping. As for other spices to try adding, how about a pinch of turmeric or paprika or cloves or even a spoon of honey or other sweetener.

    Basically Dijon mustard is mustard seeds, vinegar and salt.

    Oooh, cilantro, I love it too!

    ReplyDelete