Tomato vinaigrette

I'm working on two posts that require a lot of research and time, so meanwhile, here's how to make the easiest and most delicious dressing I've ever had :) Well, if you have a food processor. I used to be food processorless and I dreamt of making things like this. It's a really good investment. Anyway, onto the tomato vinaigrette!

Things you'll need

2 small, heirloom tomatoes. So pretty!

Left: Purple cherokee grown by my boyfriend. Right: Heirloom variety grown by farmer with the beard  at the Triangle farmers market

1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
Pinch of salt (optional)
Black pepper (optional)
Small garlic clove (optional)
Dried oregano or basil (optional)
A small pot of boiling water and a bowl of ice water

Directions:

Rinse the tomato and then cut out the core.

Cut an X on the top where you cut the core out (this just gives you easy edges to peel the skin off later).

Boil a small pot of water. Once it's rolling, drop the tomatoes in (top down is best) for 12 seconds. I use tongs. Take them out and put them in a bowl of ice water for about a minute, or until you can handle them. They shouldn't have gotten very hot anyway.

Peel the skin off with yo' fingas.

Roughly chop and put in the food processor. This time I tried adding some fresh basil. It's all good. Put in about 1/4 cup of white wine vinegar and the salt, if you like. Sometimes I forego the salt entirely. You can also put in black pepper and a chopped garlic clove.

Puree for 20 seconds or so. It doesn't take long!

Pour mixture into an old salad dressing bottle and then add about 1/4 cup of olive oil. DON'T use coconut oil, or your dressing will become hard and will take an hour to "thaw". Olive oil may harden a bit in the fridge as well (but not to the extent that coconut oil does).

(I add the oil after processing it, because then it's a cinch to rinse all the pieces of my food processor!)

Put the top on and mix it up, then taste it. Add more oil, vinegar, or salt as necessary. It should distinctly taste like tomatoes and vinegar. So good :)

Enjoy!