Char Magic
Warm Italian Salad of Fire-Roasted Tomatoes and Creamy Avocado
30 minutes
Serves 4
SideItalianGluten-freeDairy-freeNut-freeShellfish-freeSoy-freeLow Sodium
Herb's take
Inspired by the Italian love affair with simple, bold flavors, this salad dials up the elemental drama: tomatoes get smoky and sweet under high heat, while avocado brings cool richness. You’ll master charring, and discover how salt can turn up the flavor volume.
Ingredients
Yield
4
Instructions
- 01Preheat your broiler with the oven rack about 6 inches from the heat source. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil.
- 02Arrange tomato halves, cut side up, on the prepared baking sheet. Drizzle with 2 tbsp olive oil and sprinkle with 3/4 tsp salt and all the black pepper.
- 03Broil tomatoes for 8 to 10 minutes until skins blister and brown in spots but tomatoes are still mostly holding shape. Rotate the sheet once for even charring.
- 04Let tomatoes cool on the tray for 5 minutes so you don’t scorch the avocado later.
- 05On a large serving platter, arrange sliced avocado in fanned layers. Sprinkle the avocado with 1/2 tsp salt.
- 06Using a spatula, gently transfer the warm, charred tomatoes to the platter, nestling them among the avocado slices.
- 07Drizzle the salad with the remaining 1 tbsp olive oil and red wine vinegar. Scatter torn basil on top.
- 08Serve immediately while the tomatoes are still warm and the avocado is plush. Add extra black pepper if you like.
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