Summer Breakfast Salad

Simple, Delicious, and Perfect Any Time of Day

Happy August! This week I’m starting a new series of pieces that will run between the regular interviews: California Breakfasts. I’ll be featuring some of my favorite Golden State breakfasts, along with recipes from cooks I’ve interviewed in the past. I’ll also include dishes that offer a sneak peek at what’s to come (like Fanny Singer’s go-to egg recipe, which we’ll learn more about when I publish our interview later this month). This first breakfast comes from my kitchen, and it’s perfect for a hot summer morning.

Tomato and Stone Fruit Breakfast Salad

This isn’t really a recipe as much as a reminder that, at this point in the summer, you don’t really need to do much to ingredients to make them sing—and that salad is an absolutely wonderful thing to eat on a hot August morning. I’m making this simple combination of stone fruit and tomato almost every day right now, usually for breakfast or lunch, and I never get tired of it.

Serves 1 generously

4 dry-farmed Early Girl tomatoes (or 1–2 flavorful heirloom tomatoes)
1 ripe, fragrant peach (or nectarine)
2–4 leaves fresh basil (depending on the size of the leaves)
Good extra virgin olive oil
Flaky salt (like Maldon sea salt or Diamond Crystal kosher salt)
Good balsamic vinegar (optional)

Cut the tiny cores out of the tomatoes, and cut them into a large dice; if you have Early Girls, cut them in half, then cut each half into 6 pieces. Cut the peach into wedges, about 1” wide, then cut the wedges in half. Chiffonade the basil (i.e., cut it crosswise into thin strips). Mix the fruit and basil together, drizzle on just a bit of olive oil, and sprinkle on 1 to 2 pinches of salt. If your tomatoes or fruit aren’t as flavorful as you liked, drizzle on a very tiny amount of balsamic.

Photo: Georgia Freedman