White Bean Balsamic Tomato Salad, Guest Post by Renee of Magnolia Days
Today’s post is by the lovely Renee from Magnolia Days. I have the pleasure of interacting with Renee almost daily through Social Media and the various food groups that we belong to. I not only enjoy her recipes, but also her involvement in #SundaySupper and the wonderful advice she gives me about gardening. Renee, I’ll have my indoor herb garden flourishing in no time under your wonderful guidance! Check out some of Renee’s lovely recipes! A few of my favourites are Rosemary Focaccia, German Potato Salad, and her Crumb Cake! I have a date with that Crumb Cake recipe!!
Thank you, Renee for being so helpful to me and for guest posting today while I spend some quality time with my family in Jamaica. I appreciate you!!
Please enjoy today’s post by Renee: White Balsamic Tomato Salad
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Hello! My name is Renee and it is an honor to guest post on this beautiful blog. I have been following it for a while and each post brightens my day. I wish I could be in Lyn’s kitchen when she is cooking her Jamaican cuisine. Her recent post of cornmeal pudding was over the top. Being a southerner, I have had cornmeal in many ways but never as a sweet dessert. It is a recipe I will make and I will think of Lyn and the family story she shared with it too.
The recipe I am featuring is a White Bean Balsamic Tomato Salad. By now farmers and gardeners should be harvesting tomatoes. Fortunately for my area (Atlanta) they have been available since the end of May. There is something so wonderful about a fresh-picked tomato. We enjoy them so much I will simply slice them and serve as a side dish. The flavorless tomatoes sold in stores do not compare.
Salads are something we eat a lot of in the summer. The chilled greens help to beat the heat. It is also a way to use the available fresh produce and not be stuck in a hot kitchen. The season’s temperatures here are in the mid to upper 90’s and with the added humidity it is stifling hot. A cool salad sounds a lot better than a big heavy warm meal.
The dressing for the salad is homemade. I prefer making my own dressings because I like the simplicity of the ingredients. Sometimes I add more oil or vinegar or fresh herbs or whatever I am in the mood for that day. I switch out the vinegars depending on the salad. Once you make your own dressing you will find it is quite fun to experiment with all the possible variations. It is very easy to do.
The recipe can be for one or up to four salads. Use the amount of salad greens and cheese you prefer for each salad. Any leftover ingredients can be refrigerated for future use (only a few days for the tomato mixture and salad greens).
White Bean Balsamic Tomato Salad
- For the Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing:
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon (packed) brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon chopped fresh garlic
- Good pinch of sea salt
- Pinch of fresh cracked pepper
- ⅓ cup balsamic vinegar
- ½ cup olive oil
- For the salad:
- 1 cup chopped fresh tomatoes
- 3 tablespoons balsamic vinaigrette
- 1 can white cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
- Spring salad mix
- Blue cheese crumbles
- In a blender, add mustard, brown sugar, garlic, salt, pepper, and vinegar. Blend on high to combine/liquefy. Turn the blender on low and slowly pour in the olive oil. Transfer vinaigrette to a salad dressing container for serving.
- In a small bowl, combine the tomatoes and balsamic vinaigrette. In a ramekin (about 6 to 7-ounce size), add ¼ cup of the tomato mixture. Top the tomatoes with ⅓ cup of beans. Place the ramekin(s) in the refrigerator for ½ to 1 hour. (This will marinate the tomatoes).
- Spread the salad mix on a plate. Invert the ramekin onto the salad and lift off the ramekin to stack the beans and tomatoes on top. Sprinkle the salad with blue cheese crumbles. Serve with additional balsamic vinaigrette to use if more dressing is desired. Enjoy!
White Bean Balsamic Tomato Salad – Renee Dobbs, Magnolia Days
I hope you will enjoy this salad during the summer. Stay cool and fuel up on all the glorious produce of the season!
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