6 June, 2012
Cherry Tomato Salad: A Roasted Reprise

Does anyone feel that cherry tomatoes have been elbowed out of the way by their hybrid cousins, the grape tomato? While I admit that grape tomatoes are much nicer to eat raw, being sweeter with a lower “squirt factor” (don’t you just love that term?) in a neat one-bite package, I do feel a little sorry for the cherry has-beens, once on the supermarket-shelf A-List but now relegated to a smaller space amongst the masses.
I had an opportunity to revisit an earlier Sidekick recipe for a Roma Tomato and Coriander salad and decided to replace the roma with cherry tomatoes. However, when I put the recipe with cherry tomatoes together, they lacked a certain je ne sais quoi – acidic, flat, with the sweetness lurking deep in the shadows.
The Dolphin had a Ham & Cheese bubbling under the grill so I threw the marinated tomatoes in with them and 10 minutes later, had a deliciously sweet, mellow tomato salad.
Of course, this happy little accident makes perfect sense…