Tuscan Cherry Tomato and White Bean Salad is a beautiful summer salad that’s perfect alone or on the side with almost any grilled protein!
The inspiration behind this recipe:
When you’ve got a lot of things going on, don’t you need something nice and easy?
This Tuscan Cherry Tomato and White Bean Salad is just that! Our tomatoes have been struggling a little this year, but thankfully, we’ve had plenty of cherry tomatoes.
It was time to do something with them so I came up with this super simple salad from things I already had on hand.
How to make Tuscan Cherry Tomato and White Bean Salad:
- Tomatoes in salads can become watery so it’s a good idea to drain them first. Toss them with sugar and salt first and let them sit.
- All that tomatoey goodness sitting on the bottom of the bowl is too good to throw out and I hate to waste food.
- A lot of seeds will end up in that juice, so strain them and recycle that flavorful juice into part of the dressing.
- A little red wine vinegar, extra-virgin olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper and crushed red pepper flakes and this salad starts to rock!
- Add canned cannellini beans, fresh basil, Parmesan cheese and you have a great, easy summer salad!
Serve this alongside some simply grilled fish, chicken or even on grilled bread for a lovely appetizer!
For more lovely summer salads, be sure to check out my:
- Middle Eastern Vegetable Salad
- Quinoa Tabbouleh with Grilled Vegetables
- Greek Vegetable Salad with Marinated Feta Cheese
- Cucumber, Tomato and Red Onion Salad with Yogurt Mint Dressing and Feta Cheese
Tuscan Cherry Tomato and White Bean Salad
Ingredients
- 2 pints cherry tomatoes (4 cups) halved
- ½ cup diced red onion
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt plus more as needed
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 can (15-ounce) cannellini beans drained and rinsed
- 1 large sprig of fresh basil thinly sliced, plus more for garnish
- ½ cup shaved Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Combine tomatoes, red onion, sugar and salt in a bowl. Let stand for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
- Transfer the tomatoes and onion to a sieve set over a bowl and strain, reserving the liquid.
- Add the vinegar, olive oil, garlic, crushed red pepper flakes and salt to taste to the tomato liquid.
- Add the tomatoes, beans, basil and Parmesan cheese. Serve immediately.
Nutrition
These are estimated values generated from a nutritional database using unbranded products. Please do your own research with the products you're using if you have a serious health issue or are following a specific diet.
Anonymous says
Karen says
This looks so delicious Carol!
I’ve been through a flood in my house, too. That’s bad enough, but adding a theft on top of it would send me over the edge! Upside is the new toy to play with 😉
Carol says
Hi, Karen, Thank you and great to hear from you! It rocked my world when I discovered the theft. You trust people and they mess with you. But, I’m a little wiser now for it. Please stay in touch!