TOMATO SALAD WITH BUTTERMILK DRESSING

Pictured here

12 MINUTES

4 SERVINGS AND 1 LUNCH THE NEXT DAY

Sometimes you just need to submit to the avalanche of tomatoes at the August market. They’re so good, and they won’t be this way for long, so it’s okay to have them at more than one meal. And it’s more than okay not to do too much with them—as in this salad—to show off their extraordinary flavor in a minimalist fashion. Choose beautiful tomatoes and serve them with nothing but a mass of tender herbs and a lick of gently tart buttermilk dressing to show off their sun-ripened flavor. Don’t let the raw onions scare you off; their snappy flavor and texture make for a delightful contrast to the yielding tomatoes. Whenever I toss raw onions into a dish, I soak them first in something acidic (here it’s buttermilk) to blunt their pungency.

•  ¼ cup Buttermilk Dressing

•  ¼ medium red onion, finely sliced

•  2½ pounds various tomatoes (about 6 medium), cored, cut into bite-size wedges, slices, or halves

•  Flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

•  1 loose cup torn well-washed mixed tender herbs, such as any combination of mint, basil, tarragon, dill, cilantro, and parsley leaves, with a few small whole leaves for garnish

In a large bowl, mix the dressing with the onion and let sit for 10 minutes while prepping the rest of the salad. Gently toss the tomatoes with the onion-vinaigrette mixture and torn herbs. Season with salt and pepper and garnish the salad with a few whole leaves.