Garden Tomato Salad with Basil

This salad is really a celebration of tomatoes at their best. When the plum tomatoes and cherry tomatoes are ripe and smell a little green at the stem, you hardly need to do anything to them. Here they sit over torn butter lettuce, and the dressing is just enough to wake them up without drowning them.

A food fact worth knowing: tomatoes were first grown in the Americas and spread to Europe in the 1500s, where cooks were slow to trust them for a long time. Today they are one of the most common vegetables in home gardens, and a plum tomato, which has firmer flesh and fewer seeds than a round slicing tomato, is the better choice for a salad that sits on a platter for a while. Cherry tomatoes give you little bursts of sweetness that balance the sharp vinegar.

A cooking tip: salt the tomatoes lightly with the kosher salt just before serving, not hours ahead. Salt pulls water out of tomatoes, and if you do it too early you end up with a pool of pink liquid under the lettuce. Also, whisk the dressing right before you use it. The garlic is very finely chopped, so it stays bright and sharp rather than turning harsh in the oil. Toast the pumpkin seeds in a dry pan for a few minutes until they start to pop; that small step makes a real difference to the crunch.

If you have leftovers, keep the tomatoes and lettuce separate from the dressing in the fridge. The lettuce will go limp by the next day, but the tomatoes are still good chopped into scrambled eggs or stirred into a bowl of warm grains. Store the seeds in a jar on the counter so they stay crisp.

For a meal, this pairs well with grilled proteins and bread. A plate of Grilled Basil Chicken and Veggie Skewers makes a natural partner, since the basil and tomato speak the same language. If you want something lighter on the same table, a bowl of Fresh Cucumber and Cherry Tomato Salad gives you a second helping of summer. For a heartier spread, Mediterranean Quinoa Salad with Feta holds up well alongside it.

Serve this straight away, as the recipe says. It is at its best in the first few minutes, when the lettuce is still crisp and the basil is still fragrant.