Good Eats - Tomato Shrimp Salad with Heart of Palm Relish

Tomato Shrimp Salad with Heart of Palm Relish

This is my way of,

Stretching the last taste of Summer... 

with heirloom tomatoes, ripe avocado, tender shrimps in a wonderful heart of palm relish.

Tarragon is my go to herb with tomatoes.  Love the stuff!

Hearts Of Palm Relish

6 ounces (1 1/3 cups) hearts of palm, drained, rinsed and diced

6 ounces (1 1/2 cups) artichoke hearts, drained, rinsed and diced

1 tablespoons chopped red onion

3 tablespoons diced roasted red bell pepper

1 tablespoon chopped parsley leaves

2 tablespoons tarragon (red wine) vinegar

3/4 teaspoon kosher or sea salt, or more to taste

1/4 teaspoon sugar, or more to taste

1/4 teaspoon black pepper, ground, or more to taste

3 tablespoons olive oil

In a bowl, mix the hearts of palm, artichoke hearts, red onion, red bell pepper and parsley.

To prepare the vinaigrette, pour vinegar in a small bowl and mix it with the salt, sugar and black pepper. Pour the oils in a slow stream, whisking with a whisk or fork to emulsify. Pour it over the vegetables. Toss well to cover.

You may prepare the hearts of palm and artichoke salad ahead of time, cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days.

Marinated Tomato Salad
Two servings

Although this tastes great using fresh, in-season tomatoes, it also transforms ho-hum orbs into something much better. Let them marinade a little bit first, up to an hour beforehand. But for really good tomatoes, I simply toss and serve right away. A good rule of thumb is the better the tomatoes, the less you need to marinate 'em.

Either way, you can marinate the shallots hours ahead in the vinegar with some salt as the shallots as they only get better and mellower after an hour or two. Then go ahead and put the rest together whenever you want leaving you time to do something else. Like read your mail...if you're lucky enough to get it.

1 small shallot diced
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

2 gloves of garlic minced

2 teaspoon dry tarragon (1 tablespoon fresh)
3 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

salt and black pepper

4-5 medium tomatoes cut into bite size

Mix all ingredients except the oil and the tomatoes in a non-reactive (glass) bowl, let stand a couple of hours.

Stir in the olive oil.

Toss in the tomatoes.
Refrigerate 30 mins before serving

When Ready To Plate: 6-8 Servings

 Use a 3-4” round cookie cutter, layer the ingredients in this order.

- 2 ripe Haas avocados,  (bottom)

Mash with 1 teaspoon of sea salt and juice of 1 lime

- Heart of Palm Relish

- 8 oz cooked and chilled shrimps

- Heirloom Tomato Salad (top)