Indigo Rose Tomatoes. This is a tomato to get excited about. It tastes as good as it looks and might even have better nutritional value to boot! This is one of the finds at the PSU farmers market this past week. From what I've read this is an Oregon original and fairly new on the tomato scene. They really caught my eye and their taste lives up to their beauty.

It's the kind of tomato you really want to taste on its own so I used a simple basil vinaigrette and it worked really well. The vinaigrette recipe is from Field of Greens cookbook that I've mentioned before, it's truly my go-to-cookbook for salads and vegetables.

We're getting pretty much settled here in Portland, it's been sunny and incredibly pleasant, more so than San Francisco if you can believe it, it's definitely warmer, 70° is quite nice without the chilling pacific winds. But I've been warned about the rain to come. Just yesterday I was in a spice shop in the Sellwood neighborhood, a place called Savory, and the woman at the counter said people will be talking about the sunny day for a long time, er, well, it's sunny today too. I hope this isn't it! But to be sure my challenge with studio lighting and off camera flash will have to be conquered. I think the only recipe I've taken with the soft box lighting was my Blood Orange Salad last January, it was my second post on this blog. And I remember having trouble getting the light the way I wanted it. So from that point on I always took photos before the sun went down. But I'm feeling more determined than ever to master the studio lighting. The photos here were taken with natural light at different times of the day with indirect sun (we're now facing east instead of west), and I've found the overcast days here to be pretty much the same as the foggy days in San Francisco. Cloudy days can sometimes provide enough light but often it's too flat. To be sure I was happy to have enough sun for these beautiful tomatoes! If you come across this variety I highly recommend trying them out! Recipe below, enjoy!

Indigo Rose Tomato Salad with Basil Vinaigrette
(Vinaigrette adapted from Field of Greens)

12 oz Indigo Rose tomatoes
1/3 cup fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon white balsamic vinegar
1/4 teaspoon salt, pepper to taste

Cut the tomatoes into quarters (if small) or wedges. For the vinaigrette place the basil, oil and vinegar in a blender, blend until smooth (about 5 seconds in a Vitamix)

Toss the tomatoes with the dressing, chop a few fresh basil leaves for garnish and serve.