Pretty Ways to Serve Tomatoes


Who else is as excited as all get-out that it is tomato season?! We seasonal eaters, we wait all year long for this moment.
A whole two tomato seasons ago now, I got this idea to collect pretty ways to serve the summer's best tomatoes. No cooking, no grilling, no roasting, just good tomatoes straight from the garden served in beautiful but simple ways.
You'll see what inspired that idea, it's in the first photo below, a beautiful platter of tomato slices sprinkled with dainty white garlic chive flowers with a tiny tomato bouquet of flowers in the center. Yeah, I know, sooo simple and yet so pretty.
I found so-so many ideas but pared them down to just fourteen, all from talented tomato-lovin' food bloggers. And as I studied the photos, trying really hard not to drool tomato juice, I realized that serving tomatoes in pretty ways, well, the ideas hold much in common.
Ideas & Inspiration
Or Skip Straight to the Pictures & Recipes




MANY THANKS Finally, let me officially thank Lazy Sunday Cooking, a lovely lifestyle blog in Poland written in English by professional photographer Marta Potoczek. Marta graciously answered "yes" when I asked permission to use her beautiful photo of a box of home-grown heirloom tomatoes. Marta's photo is featured in her tip-filled post called Growing Tomatoes, a must-read for anyone who's growing tomatoes. Thanks so much, Marta! Follow her inspiring work on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram and Flickr.
Looking for tomato recipes, not this collection of tomatoes served in especially pretty ways?
Here are all my tomato recipes and twelve favorites!What's your favorite pretty way to serve perfect summer tomatoes?
Leave a comment, I'd love to hear (or see) your ideas! I know many of you are on Facebook, if you like, post a photo to your own page, then tag it with @AVeggieVenture. (Hmmm, to do that, you might have to "like" the page first, A Veggie Venture on Facebook.)FOR SIMPLICITY: PLAIN 'N' PRETTYFriends brought this beautiful plate of tomato slices to a potluck, it's the inspiration for my search and discovery of the many ways to to serve tomatoes in pretty ways. There's no recipe, per se, the flowers of garlic chive are so pretty during tomato season. So pretty, this plate! |
But tomatoes needn't always be sliced. Here, tomato wedges give great surface area to soak up the olive oil and vinegar. Note the platter's sloping sides, we don't want to lose those tomato juices! Recipe Here: Heirloom Tomato Corn SaladAbout This Recipe: "The only thing left to do is to inhale the salad and ask yourself why you didn’t make more. I’m partial to heirloom tomatoes because they are not only sweet, but they have fantastic flavor." ~ Use Real Butter |
FOR DRAMA: PRETTY STACKSNo question, stacked tomato slices can be ever so dramatic! What's classic about Italian caprese [pronounced ka-PREE-zay] salads is the three simple ingredients: tomatoes, fresh mozzarella and basil. After that? You rarely see the same presentation twice! Recipe Here: Tomato Mozzarella Caprese SaladAbout This Recipe: "The basil oil sauce ... allows the flavor of basil to be more distributed on the entire salad – plus it’s so addictive." ~ Laylita |
Personally, I'm smitten with the simplicity of basil leaves tucked between slices of tomato and fresh mozzarella, perfect for a weeknight supper or a simple salad for one or two. Recipe Here: Simplicity and CapreseAbout This Recipe: "I wish everything in life were as simple as Caprese. The garden tomatoes are ripe and bursting with flavor. The basil plants are filling out more and more each day — offering sweet, spicy leaves. Add some fresh mozzarella and a drizzle of olive oil and balsamic, and the loveliest summer dinner is served." ~ Buried Carrots |
But turn those caprese stacks on their side to put a Swedish spin on the classic Italian salad. Just lovely! Recipe Here: Hasselback Caprese SaladAbout This Recipe: "A simple but impressive way of serving a caprese salad. A great way to get kids excited about tomatoes!" ~ My Fussy Eater |
For a paleo take on caprese salad, omit the dairy-based fresh mozzarella and substitute with rounds of avocado. So pretty! Recipe Here: Heirloom Tomato Avocado Caprese SaladAbout The Recipe: "The key to this salad is having perfectly ripe produce. You want the tomatoes and basil at their peak of flavor and the avocado perfectly ripe and creamy." ~ Cook Eat Paleo |
For a crowd, though, those dramatic stacks of tomato are just too fussy. Here I broke out my mother's trifle bowl. It's so pretty, such a show-stopper. Just slice and serve, that's it! Recipe Here: Tomatoes & Fresh Mozzarella for a CrowdAbout The Recipe: "... charmed a crowd of us at a relaxed summer supper. No chopping, no measuring, no fussing, just layer a few slices of tomato and fresh mozzarella in a glass bowl." ~ Kitchen Parade |
And then again? All that perfection just might be over-rated. Look how lovely a big jumble of tomato and fresh cheese can be ... Recipe Here: Heirloom Tomato and Burrata CapreseAbout The Recipe: "This salad was amazing and simple and lovely and even the kids ate some of it ..." ~ Guilty Kitchen |
FOR CUTE: PRETTY SKEWERSCute food sells! And it's so handy for buffets and parties, just quick no-fork-required appetizers.Recipe Here: Caprese Skewers with Balsamic DrizzleAbout This Recipe: "Mini mozzarella cheese balls skewered with tender basil leaves and juicy tomatoes, drizzled with tangy-sweet balsamic reduction will Knock.Your.Socks.Off." ~ Iowa Girl Eats |
PRETTY TOO: Tomatoes with FetaCreamy fresh mozzarella and burrata take all the glory with summer tomatoes but taste-wise and budget-wise and yes, "tang-wise", feta is a great summer choice.Recipe Here: Tomato Platter with Olives & FetaAbout This Recipe: "A platter of perfect sliced summer tomatoes and cucumber, topped with olives and crumbled feta from the olive bar. Perfect for one or two or a crowd." ~ A Veggie Venture |
Be still, my beating heart. W-A-R-M feta. Recipe Here: Warm Feta with TomatoesAbout This Recipe: "I used herbs to make a 'bed' for feta and added a little honey, olive oil and black pepper and roasted the little packet made from parchment paper until the cheese was warm and the herbs were wilted ..." ~ Lily.Fi |
I love how a long rectangle platter shows off the shape of these pretty red and yellow tomato slices. Recipe Here: Summer Tomato Feta SaladAbout This Recipe: "With summer tomatoes being so juicy and delicious, you really don’t need much to make them sing. A simple drizzle of good quality olive oil and balsamic vinegar is enough to dress them up." ~ Busy in Brooklyn |
PRETTY PAIRS Summer Tomatoes + Summer FruitTomatoes and fruit? That doesn't seem quite so strange when you remember that tomatoes, too, are fruit. Remember that? First up, tomatoes and peaches.Recipe Here: Tomato, Peach, & Burrata SaladAbout This Recipe: "[This salad] is so simple, but sometimes simple is best, especially when summer produce is at its peak. The fresh ingredients do all of the work!" ~ Two Peas and Their Pod |
And finally, tomatoes with watermelon. Simply stunning! Recipe Here: Quilted SaladAbout This Recipe: "The flavors of tomatoes and watermelon are wonderful together and the cucumber gave it some crispness." ~ Tango Mango |
So That's It!I hope you're feeling inspired to paint plates and platters with summer's best tomatoes, you know, "pretty tomatoes"! Does one pretty way especially suit your style? Are you jazzed to build a pretty plate in your very own pretty way?Collection Here: Pretty Ways to Serve Tomato's Best Tomatoes |
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MORE TOMATO SALADS: WORTHY OF GOOD SUMMER TOMATOES
~ Never Take a Good Tomato for Granted: Twelve Favorite Tomato Recipes ~~ Old Liz's Old-Fashioned Cucumber & Tomato Salad ~
~ Fattoush (Traditional Middle Eastern Salad) ~
~ Jerusalem Salad ~
~ more tomato recipes ~
from A Veggie Venture
~ Favorite Summer Salad Recipes ~
~ Panzanella ~
~ Fresh Corn & Tomato Salad ~
~ Greek Pasta Salad ~
~ more tomato recipes ~
from Kitchen Parade, my food column
A Veggie Venture is home of "veggie evangelist" Alanna Kellogg and the
famous asparagus-to-zucchini Alphabet of Vegetables.
© Copyright Kitchen Parade 2015
famous asparagus-to-zucchini Alphabet of Vegetables.
© Copyright Kitchen Parade 2015
Great (and pretty) tomatoes! When I was growing up on our Midwestern farm, as soon as the tomatoes and cucumbers started to ripen, they were served at both dinner and supper meals. Mom did the same thing her mom and mother-in-law did - serve up peeled, sliced tomatoes on a big platter. Often these would be accompanied by pickle-like slabs of fresh-from-the-garden cucumbers, either on the same platter or in a separate dish. Tomatoes were eaten simply as a fresh vegetable. My grandma always set the table with small bowls for the tomatoes. Salt and pepper would be available or the sugar bowl, for those that liked to sweeten their tomato slices. Thanks for sharing these interesting recipes!
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