cherry tomato, ginger, brown butter and mustard seed salad

it's my go to summer condiment

Whether it be a relish, a salad or a side, this cherry tomato dish is one of my summer go tos. It makes its way in my weekly rotation. I tend to like a cool bowl of yogurt with the addition of herbs and cucumbers to serve alongside. The other night, I had it served over seared cabbage, with mint yogurt and basmati rice for a simple dinner. I think this would be delicious over blistered green beans, spooned over roasted eggplant, a bowl of lentils (think a favorite dal recipe) or a grilled steak. I think I would be happy having this addition as a salad to a potluck (do we do these any more? can we?) This cherry tomato salad relies on tempering spices in brown butter, a key component to Indian cooking that I love. For me, the sweetness of the cherry tomatoes works so well with the earthy-ness of popped mustard seed. It doesn’t hurt that it’s nice and punchy from all of the lime and ginger.

cherry tomato, ginger, brown butter and mustard seed salad RECIPE

1 pint cherry tomatoes cut in half

2 tsp brown mustard seeds

1 large clove garlic thinly sliced ( I like a mandolin)

1” inch piece ginger, thinly julienned

1/2 small red (or white) onion, cut in half and thinly sliced

1/4 cup toasted cashews crushed/ or almonds

1 TAB olive oil

1 lime juiced

4 TAB unsalted butter

1/2 cup rough chopped cilantro ( or use mint)

salt to taste

A note on slicing garlic and ginger. I like to use a mandolin (like this one, from my favorite knife store) to thinly slice garlic. You can also use a knife and go slow and slice it paper thin. For the ginger, I like to peel it; a scraping motion of a spoon works great. Then using the mandolin to thinly slice. Then I take those thinly sliced pieces and stack a few up at a time and thinly cut - making a julienne. Here is Martha Stewart showing you how to do it.

Preheat oven to 350F. Add 1 TAB olive oil and mix with cashews on a small sheet tray with a good pinch of salt and toast cashews for 10 -12 minutes until golden brown. Crush with a bowl or cast iron. Or simply rough chop.

In a medium bowl, add your tomatoes and a hefty pinch of salt.

Grab a saute pan and a lid to cover it. In this pan, add the butter. Heat over medium and grab a whisk. The butter will go through a few stages. It will melt, then it will start to foam. Once it foams, whisk so that the solids don’t just stick to the bottom. ( my friend Mercy taught me this - and I whole heartedly believe brown butter should be whisked to ensure even distribution of browning milk solids.) At this point, I add my brown mustard seeds, a pinch of salt and cover with a lid. They will start to pop, like popcorn, hence the lid. Give it 30 seconds, gently shaking/swirling the pan and remove the lid. The butter will have just reached a golden brown color. Quickly add the julienned garlic and ginger and another pinch of salt. Let the garlic cook, stirring to ensure even cooking of the garlic. The garlic will turn from translucent to opaque. Just as it’s heading to golden, pour the contents of the saute pan over the tomatoes to stop the cooking. Then gently mix.

Now I will add the onions, juice of one lime, cashews and herbs of choice. Mix and taste for salt.