Dara Moskowitz Grumdahl's Top 5 Tomato Salad Recipes

It's one of the greatest seasons of the year: Peak tomato!  I have cherry tomatoes growing all over the front yard, fat pear-shaped tomatoes growing in the garden beds I share with my neighbors and every farmer's market is full of heirloom tomatoes of every size and shape.

Lots of other things are in season too—it's the other Christmas, as far as food goes. Bounty everywhere!

And of course everyone loves a caprese, the classic Italian combination of fresh sliced tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil leaves dressed with olive oil. But after a dozen capreses a person's heart yearns for variety!  So here are my top five next-level tomato salads—No. 1 is so good you might cry.

1) Rick Bayless' tomato tomatillo salad

This is a salad that will change your life. The charred garlic dressing is a bit of futzy thing to mess around with, but after you make it and spread some avocados, tomatoes, and fresh tomatillos on a platter and drizzle the dressing around you will be so very happy. This is one of those recipes that makes a good thing like the peak of summer that much better.

2) Feta, mint, cucumber and tomato salad

Greek tomato salads with feta and mint are a classic. You can go very heavy on the tomatoes if you have lots and lots, and if you're feeling thrifty for the cucumbers, you can use the pickling cucumbers which are showing up at farmer's markets by the barrelful and just peel them. Or crunch through the peels.  Both strategies are great ones. A lemony wine like a Torrontes would make this a very nice night on the back patio.

3) Melissa Clark's fig and blue cheese salad

More good news – it's also the beginning of California's fresh fig season!  I saw green and purple ones in the store the other day, and they go great with blue cheese—and now this is a perfect summer salad.

4) Sean Brock's tomato salad with goat cheese and plums

I'm loving all the ripe plums everywhere, and I'm a big fan of southern chef Sean Brock—and putting everything on a bed of arugula just makes tons of sense. Put out a couple of bottles of a fleshy rosé like the Steele Cabernet Franc Rose and you've got a mighty nice high-summer dinner party.

5) Caprese, Now with citrus:

This is a simple idea, but good. Take any citrus fruit that looks good—oranges would be the classic, but lemons and limes would work, tangerines too, maybe not grapefruit—and once you have that good looking citrus, use a little grater or zester to rasp off some of the brightly colored part of the rind, leaving the white pith behind. Cover it with olive oil, and let it steep. Now, peel the citrus, and cut pithless segments to sprinkle over your salad. If it's a mild citrus like orange the segments can be big. If its intense like a lemon make them small. Add different herbs if you have them—cilantro with lime makes sense, or parsley with orange. You've gone next level with your caprese! Take a bow.