Recipe: Heirloom Tomato Salad with Pomegranate-Sumac Dressing

You’d think I didn’t like fresh tomatoes, the way I avoid them most of the year. Yet it’s precisely because I love tomatoes — ripe, juicy, just-plucked and not shipped-around-the-world ones — that I wait until summer. At last the season has arrived, filling my dinner plate with colorful rounds of heirloom tomatoes. Here’s one way I like to serve them: a simple salad with a sweet, tangy pomegranate and sumac dressing and a handful of fresh herbs.

You don’t have to use heirloom varieties in this salad, and in fact, the dressing can enhance a somewhat bland hothouse tomato. But do yourself a favor and seek out fruit that smells earthy and sweet and tomato-y, whether it’s from your garden, a farmers market, or the grocery store. A mix of colors is always nice, too. (And remember, when it comes to heirloom tomatoes, scars are a-okay!)

To play up the tangy sweetness of the tomatoes, the salad includes a Middle Eastern fattoush-inspired dressing with olive oil, lemony ground sumac, and rich pomegranate molasses. (Store-bought pomegranate molasses is fine but sometimes contains sugar; I use my sugar-free DIY version instead and add a drop of honey to the dressing.) Top the tomatoes with a scattering of basil, mint, and parsley, and you have a fresh, simple side dish for any summer meal.

(Images: Emily Han)