In honor of the first farmer’s market’s opening in the area this week,  it’s time for a fresh and healthy appetizer that oozes that sweet summertime feelin’. It can hardly be considered a real recipe because it’s so simple to assemble, but will become a favorite of yours I am sure- even for those non-tomato lovers out there. Perfect for a dinner party or meal all on it’s own.

A throwback to my days living in Rome, these heirloom tomatoes prove to be very much worth the extra cents for such flavor, as all Italians know. High quality ingredients means that you don’t need to use a lot of them for great flavor and presentation.

Mozzarella, goat cheese, a hard crusted baguette, and marinated onions or olives also make great variations.

Ingredients:

Heirloom tomatoes of different shapes, sizes, colors and varieties
Extra virgin olive oil
course ground sea salt & pepper*
chopped basil (optional)

*Fun fact: True sea salt will have a slight pink, gray, or orange tint to it, which is what you want. If it’s glowing white, your salt has been bleached and stripped of most of the natural nutrients. Grain size is just a matter of personal preference, so choose what you like.

Directions:

1. Slice each tomato horizontally in equal sized slices:

2. Arrange tomatoes as you like. Sprinkle with a generous amount of sea salt, pepper and drizzle with olive oil. Add a garnish of chopped basil if you’d like, although it is delicious without: