Summer Tomato Salad with Goat Cheese, Basil Vinaigrette, and Fresh Herbs

Nothing says summer like this Summer Tomato Salad with Goat Cheese, Basil Vinaigrette, and Fresh Herbs and anyone who likes these ingredients will love this for a summer side dish. Use Tomato Recipes to find more tomato salads like this one.

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This Summer Tomato Salad with Goat Cheese, Basil Vinaigrette, and Fresh Herbs is something that’s been appearing on my table for as many summers as I can  remember, and as long as you have fresh tomatoes and goat cheese, there are several ways I’ve found to enjoy this salad. If you don’t have fresh basil, I’ve even used store-bought basil pesto with vinaigrette dressing to make the basil vinaigrette, and the salad was still amazing. Of course, fresh basil and fresh herbs sprinkled on top will make the salad even better!

Since I’ve been making this salad for years, I’ve noticed many people think I’m talking about Feta cheese when they hear goat cheese. Although certainly Feta would taste good here, I think the creamy goat’s milk cheese that comes in a log is so fabulous with the basil vinaigrette. In the U.S., Montrachet and Chevre are two brands that are widely available. Goat cheese is probably an acquired taste, but I’ve converted quite a few people to it by making this salad for them, so give it a try if you’ve never had this type of cheese.

If you check the recipe there are several ways to make a flavorful basil vinaigrette, but this time I combined fresh chopped basil with Le Parisien Vinaigrette. Slice or quarter juicy fresh tomatoes.  (I’ve made this salad with every type or color of fresh garden tomato you can imagine, and all were good.) Finely chop fresh herbs of your choice and crumble goat cheese. Then arrange the tomatoes on a plate, drizzle the basil vinaigrette over, and sprinkle with the goat cheese and finely chopped herbs.

This amazing summer salad combination could not be easier!

More Delicious Ways to Use Basil Vinaigrette:

Grilled Halibut with Basil Vinaigrette ~ Kalyn’s Kitchen
Caprese Salad with Basil Vinaigrette ~ Steamy Kitchen
Tomatoes, Hearts of Palm, Olives, and Feta with Basil Vinaigrette ~ Kalyn’s Kitchen
Strawberry and Goat Cheese Green Salad with Basil Vinaigrette ~ Cookin’ Canuck
Lightly Steamed Asparagus with Basil Vinaigrette ~ Kalyn’s Kitchen
Tomato, Basil, and Mozzarella Salad with Basil Vinaigrette ~ The Perfect Pantry

Want More Summer Tomato Salads?

Check out Ten Favorite Summer Tomato Salads (plus Honorable Mentions) for more amazing salad ideas for summer tomatoes!

Print Recipe

Summer Tomato Salad with Goat Cheese, Basil Vinaigrette, and Fresh Herbs

Yield: 1 serving

Total Time: 10 minutes

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Nothing says summer like this Summer Tomato Salad with Goat Cheese, Basil Vinaigrette, and Fresh Herbs.

Ingredients:

• 2-3 thickly sliced tomatoes
• 1-2 T crumbled goat cheese (Chevre or Montrachet, the kind that comes in a log.)
• 1-2 T basil vinaigrette (see options below)
• 1-2 tsp. chopped fresh herbs (use basil, Italian oregno, Greek oregano, marjoram, thyme, chives, or other fresh herbs of your choice)
• sea salt and fresh ground black pepper if desired

Directions:

Basic Salad Directions:

1. Slice tomatoes in thick slices, half-moon slices, or even large diced pieces if using small tomatoes. Arrange tomatoes on seving dish.
2. Drizzle tomatoes with basil vinaigrette, then sprinkle goat cheese and chopped herbs over. (Leave the cheese in the refrigerator until you’re ready to use it, or it will get too soft and be hard to crumble.)
3. You can season with sea salt and fresh ground black pepper if desired, but I find this is one of the few ways to serve tomatoes that doesn’t really need salt.

Basil Vinaigrette Options; All These Variations are Amazing:

1. Combine chopped basil and olive oil to make basil puree, then mix pureed basil with your favorite vinaigrette or Italian dressing. (More about Basil Vinaigrette with basil puree here. This is my preferred method for intense basil flavor.)
2. Combine finely chopped fresh basil and your favorite Vinaigrette or Italian dressing in a jar and shake. If you can do this an hour or so beforehand it will let the flavors blend, but it’s not essential.
3. If you’re a gardener who has frozen basil in the freezer, the frozen basil mixed with your favorite vinaigrette or Italian dressing is an easy way to make basil vinaigrette.4) If you don’t have any fresh or frozen basil, purchased basil pesto mixed with your favorite vinaigrette or Italian dressing will also make a delicious basil vinaigrette.

Notes:

Only make this when you have fresh flavorful tomatoes, everything else can be adapted with what you have on hand.

This is a summer tomato salad recipe Kalyn has been adapting for many years.

All images and text ©Kalyn Denny for Kalyn's Kitchen.

Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
If you’re making this Summer Tomato Salad with Goat Cheese, Basil Vinaigrette, and Fresh Herbs for the South Beach Diet, or another Low-Glycemic or low-carb eating plan, be sure to use a salad dressing with only 2-3 grams of sugar per serving. Tomatoes are not especially low in carbs, but you could probably eat a small serving of this for most low-carb diet plans.

Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use the Recipes by Diet Type photo index pages to find more recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to Follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.

Nutritional Information?
If you want nutritional information for a recipe, I recommend entering the recipe into this nutrition analyzer, which will calculate it for you. Or if you’re a member of Yummly, you can use the Yum button on my site to save the recipe and see the nutritional information there.