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Cherry Tomato and Watermelon Salad Recipe - America's Test Kitchen
If in-season cherry tomatoes are unavailable, substitute vine-ripened cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes from the supermarket, avoiding pale, unripe ones. If using grape tomatoes, simply cut them in half along the equator (rather than quartering them) to expose the maximum amount of seeds and pulp. If you don’t have a salad spinner, after the salted tomatoes have stood for 30 minutes, wrap the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and gently shake to remove seeds and excess liquid. Strain the liquid and proceed with the recipe as directed. The amount of liquid given off by the tomatoes will depend on their ripeness. If you have less than 1/2 cup of juice after spinning, proceed with the recipe using the entire amount of juice and reduce it to 3 tablespoons as directed (cooking time will be shorter).
Cherry Tomato and Watermelon Salad
Serves 4 to 6
Cherry tomatoes exude lots of liquid when cut, quickly turning a salad into soup.
Every bite of our salad should deliver sweet tomato flavor.
We needed to remove the tomato juice without laboriously cutting open 40 or so cherry tomatoes and painstakingly pushing out the jelly and seeds. Our answer? First, quarter the tomatoes, salt them, and let them drain for 30 minutes. Then, use the centrifugal force generated by a whirling salad spinner bowl to remove the remaining juice. But this method also eliminated the jelly, which research has found to be the most flavorful part of the tomato. We couldn't just add back the jelly (which would re-create the excess liquid problem), but by straining the seeds from the jelly and reducing the jelly to concentrate its flavor (adding garlic, oregano, shallots, and vinegar), we restored a flavorful base tomato flavor without adding extra liquid. Once we had this base, we moved on to develop several variations, including a salad featuring basil and fresh mozzarella and a version with tarragon and blue cheese.
