A delicious Warm Tomato and Feta Salad, with red onion and feta. A great tomato side dish, especially with winter tomatoes. Nice for the buffet table, too!
This past week, my husband committed the ultimate family member of a food blogger faux pas. He ate the ingredients. You see, earlier in the week, I had carefully picked out a lovely collection of small tomatoes in a variety of shapes, sizes and colours and then hidden them in the back of the fridge behind a bunch of other stuff to keep them safe. Proving that it is impossible to hide anything from a man in search of food, over half of them had disappeared before I got around to cooking this up.
To his credit, my husband did offer to bring home some replacements after work, but patience isn't a particular virtue of mine. The store is a one-hour round trip away and I did have some other tomatoes in the fridge, so I decided to make do. NOT to his credit, ever since he has been randomly and annoyingly wondering out loud if there were more good tomatoes in the fridge he could eat. I'm questioning his level of remorse ;)
So my lesson learned! Sticky notes warning of all manner of dire consequences for touching "the ingredients" will be employed in future.
The larger tomatoes on the vine in the middle of my dish are the "making do" in this dish. While lovely, they are really too large to roast up well in a short time, and they have too much juice in them that spills out when cut. We don't really want to add juice to this dish. This one's all about slow, dry roasting and transforming tomatoes into little bites of rich, tomato-y goodness. The smaller cherry tomatoes on the vine would be a great choice in place of these larger ones. Look for different shapes, sizes and colours of small-ish tomatoes, aiming for nothing larger than golf-ball size. Any large tomato will work for the slices.
Feta is such interesting cheese. Despite extended time in the oven, it really doesn't melt in any way. It remains firm and really just warms. Just remember that feta is very salty, so watch the amount of extra salt you add to the dish. I try to control myself and not add any additional salt until the end and then, only as needed.
Cook's Notes for Warm Tomato and Feta Salad
This dish is a great weeknight side with chicken or fish. It's also perfect for a buffet table as it holds its own while it sits and is delicious warm or at room temperature, so no need to worry about keeping this one hot. And finally, this dish is winter perfect, when tomatoes are less than fresh-from-the-field and no where near as flavourful. Roasting can transform them into something wonderful, so there's no need to pass by them in the store during the winter any more!
Warm Roasted Tomato, Onion and Feta Salad
Ingredients
- 1 medium red or yellow onion
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Variety of small tomatoes (such as cherry, grape etc. no larger than golf-ball size)
- 2 large tomatoes cut into thick slices
- 6-7 oz feta cheese cut into 3/4" thick slices
- leaves Fresh basil (or 1/2-1 tsp. dried basil)
- 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
- 1 Tbsp brown sugar
- t Salt for finishing (*feta is salty, so don' salt until the end and only a bit is needed)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° F (180° C). Cut onion into thin wedges. Place in baking dish or roasting pan and drizzle with a bit of olive oil. Roast in the pre-heated oven for 30 minutes. Place feta slices into roasting pan and drizzle with a bit of olive oil. Scatter any feta crumbles around the pan. Place a large tomato slice over most of the large rounds of feta. Scatter smaller tomatoes around the pan. Give one final drizzle of olive oil over tomatoes and a bit of freshly ground pepper (if using dried basil, you can add now, as well). Return to the oven and roast another 35-45 minutes.
- Meanwhile, add balsamic vinegar and brown sugar to a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat and then lower the heat and simmer until reduced by half. Set aside.
- Allow to cool 5 minutes. Sprinkle with fresh basil leaves, a bit of salt and drizzle with the reduced balsamic vinegar. Serve warm.
michelle says
O.M.G ... just made this tonight and it was AMAZING!! We took a risk making it for the first time hosting a big dinner, and it was a huge hit!! Thanks so much for posting this!!
Jennifer says
So glad you enjoyed it Michelle. I made it this past weekend for Canadian Thanksgiving, as well!
Tamara says
Delicious! Just made this for dinner and it was a hit. Served with chicken and warm pita bread.
I found your site while searching for a recipe for Chelsea buns. I'm looking forward to trying your bun recipe. The photos look just like the Chelsea buns of my childhood!
Jennifer says
So glad you enjoyed it, Tamara and you will love the Chelsea buns! :)
Tracey@whatsfordinnerdoc says
I'm chucking over the ingredient theft. I'm new to blogging but my husband has been known to ask, "are we going to eat that before it gets cold?" While I struggle to get the lighting just right. I usually eat the cold plate and keep his warm. Big baby. Ha ha
Be well, Tracey
Jennifer M says
Yes, the life of a food blogger (and their families). Funny thing is, I have my kids well trained to check before eating special things in the fridge, but the other adult in the house is apparently a slow learner ;)
Yelle says
this looks and sounds incredible. i think it would actually be perfect for fall, and i absolutely love the balsamic on it. i wonder how it would taste with the substitution of fennel bulb for the onions? i've been on a fennel kick lately and i've been trying to find more recipes that call for it!
Jennifer M says
Thanks, and I think fennel would be nice in this, Yelle.
Sophie says
Such a delicious way to enjoy tomatoes in winter! I love feta, too, this sounds so good! Colorful and lovely.
Last night I noticed my husband had been eating the Chex cereal. Totally ok. Except I have been developing a Chex Mix recipe (I know, but I just really love Chex Mix!) and I needed that cereal. At least it's so easy to buy more ;) I hadn't left a note so he was free to do so, really! ;)
Jennifer M says
Thanks Sophie. I love Chex Mix, too. Will watch for that recipe!
Sounds like you might need to use the sticky note solution, too :)
Sally says
Wow, this looks so delicious! I am going to try it with some of our frozen tomatoes from the garden... anything to bring back that summery flavor!
Jennifer M says
Thanks Sally. I think this would be great with frozen tomatoes. If you try it, hope you'll let me know how it was.
ela@GrayApron says
I can't imagine a more beautiful salad! Thanks for the inspiration :) ela
Jennifer M says
Thanks ela. What a lovely blog you have! Thanks for commenting so I could discover it :)
Chung-Ah | Damn Delicious says
What a gorgeous, vibrant, colorful salad! I could inhale this right now!
And I love that he "ate the ingredients". Jason once did the same and I completely freaked out!
Jennifer M says
Thanks so much, Chung-Ah. Funny thing ... my kids quickly learned to ask first. Just having trouble training the husband ;)
Jennifer @ Delicieux says
What a fantastic dish! I just adore tomatoes and am so going to have to try this. And I'm glad to hear my husband isn't the only one that eats ingredients before I get a chance to cook them! :)
Jennifer M says
Thanks Jennifer and I'm glad I'm not alone in the hungry husband department :)
Renee says
"He ate the ingredients.." What a great line! Glad the dish worked out in the end. I love feta that's been baked - almost more than not. Great idea for a side-dish!
Jennifer M says
I think that was the subject line of the email I sent him at work when I discovered his faux pas :) I love feta all ways. It's such a nice cheese. I love it's salty ways.
Laura (Tutti Dolci) says
It's lunch time and oh how I wish I was pulling this salad out of the oven. Gorgeous! (And yes, sticky notes are a must for bloggers ;))
Jennifer M says
Thanks so much, Laura. I am fully stocked with sticky notes now, too :)