Salad's Salads

Tomato Chevre Salad with Trufffle Oil Pesto

Yesterday morning I was at the Union Square Greenmarket at 8am.  I happily skipped from one vendor to the next, and picked up ingredients for a dinner I planned to cook around 8pm when I returned from work.  From the green market, I went to exercise class, from exercise I went to work. Pretty successful start to the day, no?

Unfortunately, the congress decided to postpone their vote on the bill on the debt ceiling last night.  But that final word didn’t come in until after 10pm.  All this means to me, since I work for a news network, I had to stay put till all the congressmen went to bed.  This is the job I signed up for, and though it seems like I am complaining, it is what makes this job fun. 

I ended up getting home around 10:30 and starting the oven then.  This tomato salad was easy to throw together.  These New Jersey beefsteaks are juicy, and almost at their peak.    I bought a box of chevre from a goat farmer there (http://www.lynnhavennubians.com/ ) and crumbled that on top of the tomatoes.  For the pesto, I didn’t have pine nuts or parmesan on hand (as usually goes into a pesto) so instead I just went heavy on the extra virgin olive oil and a good dash of truffle oil.  Recipe below:

2 large Beefsteak tomatoes, sliced (2 colors of tomatoes if possible)

One stalk  of basil, cleaned, leaves removed from stems

Several ounces of chevre (or any goat cheese)

Several tablespoons extra virigin olive oil

½ Tablespoon truffle oil

Kosher salt

Fresh ground pepper

for the pesto:

Directions: blend basil and the oils in a food processor.  Add salt and fresh ground pepper intermediately to taste.

Drip pesto on top of slice tomatoes, sprinkle with salt and pepper and an extra dash of olive oil.  Serve