cherry tomato salad

I subscribe to Cook's Illustrated magazine, and even though there aren't many vegetarian repices featured in their publications, what few they include are usually very good. Last night I made the Greek Cherry Tomato Salad that was featured in the July/August 2008 issue. It turned out well, so I thought I'd share the goodness:

Greek Cherry Tomato Salad

2 pints ripe cherry tomatoes, quartered (about 4 cups)
Table salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
2 medium garlic cloves , minced or pressed through garlic press (about 2 teaspoons)
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 medium shallot, minced (about 3 tablespoons)
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Ground black pepper
1 small cucumber, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1/2-inch dice
1/2 cup chopped pitted kalamata olives
4 ounces feta cheese, crumbled (about 1 cup)
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves

1. Toss tomatoes, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and sugar in medium bowl; let stand for 30 minutes. Transfer tomatoes to salad spinner and spin until seeds and excess liquid have been removed, 45 to 60 seconds, stirring to redistribute tomatoes several times during spinning. Return tomatoes to bowl and set aside. Strain tomato liquid through fine-mesh strainer into liquid measuring cup, pressing on solids to extract as much liquid as possible.
2. Bring 1/2 cup tomato liquid (discard any extra), garlic, oregano, shallot, and vinegar to simmer in small saucepan over medium heat. Simmer until reduced to 3 tablespoons, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer mixture to small bowl and cool to room temperature, about 5 minutes. Whisk in oil and pepper to taste until combined. Taste and season with up to 1/8 teaspoon table salt.
3. Add cucumber, olives, feta, dressing, and parsley to bowl with tomatoes; toss gently and serve.

You can find the recipe with illustrations and a video here, although you may need to be a subscriber to the Cook's Illustrated site to access these.

The trick here is to salt and spin the tomatoes so as to get rid of the excess liquid, but then to use the strained liquid for the tomato vinaigrette. It may sound like extra work, but it's not really, and it's worth the effort to keep the salad from getting waterlogged.

The tomatoes I used were a mixture of green, red, and yellow heirlooms, which were both tasty and attractive.