This Mediterranean tomato salad with parsley marinade and garlic is a refreshing summer salad. You’d see variations of this salad across Mediterranean used as mezes, tapas or a regular side dish.
If you have ever visited any Mediterranean countries during summer times, you might have noticed how many different tomato dishes and salads we have. An amazing quality of the Mediterranean region is the ability to come up with an enormous amount of different dishes with the same ingredient.
We take full advantage of seasonality of products and get creative in inserting them in every dish, appetizer or even starters.
When tomatoes are plentiful (either from your garden or local markets), feel free to try any of these recipes.
You can add them to sandwiches, to eggs, blend them to mix into sauces and casseroles, chop them in tiny pieces or slice them for beautiful salads like this one. The opportunities are endless!
Ingredients
Ingredients for this salad are very minimalistic, especially if you tend to cook Mediterranean style as we all have olive oil, red wine vinegar, sea salt and oregano on hand at all times. They’re pantry staples for us!
- Tomatoes – red, ripe but still firm tomatoes.
- Flat leaf parsley – fresh
- Garlic – fresh, not powder
- Olive oil – good quality olive oil is a must. it’ll elevate not only this salad but any salad you make.
- Red wine vinegar – vinegar balances out all the flavors in this salad.
- Sea salt – I am very partial to Mediterranean sea salt but you might use whatever salt you have available, just season to taste.
- Oregano – dry oregano. If you have any from Albania, Greece or other Mediterranean countries, you’ll love the extra flavor and aroma. But otherwise, regular oregano would work too.
- Optional – for spicy marinade add crushed red pepper, Aleppo pepper etc but for a different flavor add za’atar.
Parsley Garlic Marinade
Is it a salad dressing or a marinade? It’s kind of both in my non-professional opinion. You can add this dressing over vegetables and it marinades them a little bit. I tend to add a similar marinade over grilled eggplants or grilled mini-peppers too.
I usually use a garlic press to crush garlic. Then I chop fresh parsley as thin as possible. Add both parsley and garlic to a mason jar. Add sea salt, oregano then pour olive oil enough to cover the ingredients. Then add a tablespoon of red wine vinegar. I usually mix with a spoon to mix then let the dressing sit for a little bit so all flavors mix together.
Apply the marinade over sliced tomatoes and that’s it! Salad is ready to serve and it is a such a gorgeous sight on the table:).
Tomato Salad with Parsley Marinade
Equipment
- 1 mason jar
Ingredients
- 4 tomatoes
- 0.5 tsp sea salt
- 2 garlic cloves add more for a more pronounced taste
- ⅓ cup parsley fresh, finely chopped
- 5 tbsps olive oil extra virgin
- 2 tbsps red wine vinegar
- 1 tsp oregano
- crushed red pepper or za'atar (optional) to taste, for added spice or flavor
- pinch freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Wash and pat dry the tomatoes. Make sure to pick tomatoes that are red, ripe but firm. Beefsteak tomatoes or tomatoes on the vine are perfect for this salad. Slice tomatoes in thin slices and arrange them on a salad platter of your choice.
- Sprinkle sea salt over tomato slices so they can absorb the salt and enhance the flavor. Set the platter aside while you prepare the marinade.
- Crush garlic cloves using a garlic press, add to a mason jar. Finely chop flat leaf parsley and add to mason jar.
- Add oregano (and crushed red pepper or za'atar if using). Add olive oil and red wine vinegar. Mix the marinade.
- Slowly add the dressing over the tomatoes and coat them evenly. Serve as a side dish, starter, add some warm bread for dipping and finally add some freshly ground black pepper lightly over the salad. Enjoy:)
Notes
- Usually we have no leftovers of this salad as it disappears. But if you were to have leftovers, store the salad in a container in the refrigerator and allow it to come to room temperature when serving.
Nutrition Label
Nutrition
If you would like to save this recipe for later, please pin any of the pictures from this post to your boards in Pinterest so you can easily retrieve the recipe later. Let me know in comments if you made this recipe or your own version of this tomato salad. Thank you:).
Leave a Reply