Tomato Pepper Salad

This tomato pepper salad is what I’d call one of my signature dishes. It became part of the regular lunch rotation for myself, my boyfriend and my roommate. I’ve brought this tomato pepper salad to potlucks and dinner parties. It’s a common request when I visit my parents. I think it is safe to say it has been a success on all fronts. Which is exactly why this is the first recipe I am posting on My Gluten Free PhD!

All the same, this tomato pepper salad is quick, easy and packed with veggies and tomatoes (More on this later). For seasoning, this uses staples for the gluten free (or not gluten free!) cook and comes together in a flash. It even gets better with a little bit of time. You can serve this right after you make it, or you can make it ahead! The salad can be refrigerated overnight and then brought back to room temperature before serving.

KRISTINE’S BRIEF TOMATO DETOUR

So, on the topic of veggies and tomatoes… I specify this phrasing because although I know that botanically speaking tomatoes are fruits, I can’t bear to refer to them as fruits when I’m cooking. I thought it was just me who has been overthinking the “Are tomatoes fruits or vegetables?” question. Apparently, it’s not just me! The supreme court ruled on this question in 1893 after a dispute about tariffs on vegetables… NPR even covered it recently!

Modern day views are essentially the same. Encyclopædia Britannica states that tomatoes are botanically fruits that are nutritionally classified as vegetables. If you search for the term “tomatoes AND fruit” on PubMed, a search engine for scientific publications, most scientific literature refers to tomatoes as fruits. No matter how much I like to pretend they aren’t, those are the facts. If you want to get really deep into this, a surprising number of “culinary vegetables” are “botanically fruits”… But I digress – back to business, and on to how to prepare the salad!

Preparation Notes & Photos

The heart of the tomato pepper salad

Wash all of your produce.

Chop up all of your veggies and tomatoes.

Throw all your chopped veggies and tomatoes in a large bowl and mix.

Prepare the salad dressing

Mince the garlic. In a mason jar, shake up minced garlic, olive oil, vinegars and spices. You can also whisk this in a bowl.

Pour all of the dressing over the veggies and tomatoes. Toss well to coat.

Finishing the salad

Cube the feta and then add to the salad.

Mix the salad gently to incorporate the feta into the salad and avoid crushing the cubes.

Serve this as a side – It’s a great choice to serve with a heavier main dish because it tastes very summery and fresh. You can serve this right away or prepare it a day in advance, which is my preference because the salad gets better after it “stews” in the fridge.

Substitutions

This is one of those recipes that you can mess with the ingredients a bit using whatever you have handy and it will still turn out just fine.

Spices and Vinegar

I’ve swapped oregano for basil or used only red wine vinegar when I was out of balsamic. My roommate has a profound love of all vinegar, and so she’ll always add a splash of extra vinegar onto her salad.

Feta

Can you substitute pre-crumbled feta here? Yes… but I really hope you don’t and end up making the same mistake I did. Because the flavor of the feta really can change this salad, try to find a block instead. I’ve tried using crumbled feta and low-fat feta. They really brought the dish down a notch. Also, keep in mind that how salty your feta is may warrant a change in how much salt you add to the dressing.

Tomatoes

I really prefer the cherry or grape tomatoes, but I’ve used good roma tomatoes and those will do. Do NOT use beefsteak tomatoes here because they would be sad, flavorless, and watery in this salad. Tomatoes from a farmer’s market are great to play with here. The more colorful the tomatoes, than the more beautiful this salad will be.

Onions and garlic

If you’re sensitive to onions or garlic, then you can use less and it should still taste great. Should you have the opposite problem – by that I mean being a devoted fan of onions like my brother who has been eating raw onions off a cutting board since he was young – go ahead and add more red onion! You do you.

On the topic of onion – the only substitution I’ve tried and disliked was using yellow or white onion in place of the red onion in the same quantity. Because they’re so much stronger than red onions, it was easy to over-do it when I substituted yellow/white onions in. I am inclined to think that if you cut the amount of onion down even more, you could make the substitution. I would suggest trying a quarter of a white/yellow onion (diced) instead of larger pieces from half of a red onion. Also, I think three thinly sliced green onions would also be okay – Just expect a milder flavor. Use your best judgement here.

Worried about calories?

Just in case you are tracking calories, you can shave some off the top here with two small modifications. If you use less feta (1/4 pound) and olive oil (3 tbsp) on this salad, than the calories come out to 119 kcal per serving. I don’t do this myself, but it’s my best guess!

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