Tomato Flight Salad

There's a moment in late summer when you realize you have too many tomatoes and not nearly enough appetite to use them all. That's when I started playing with the idea of a tomato flight—borrowing the concept from wine tastings where you sample different expressions of the same grape. Why not do that with tomatoes? Fresh, roasted, sun-dried, each one telling a different story on the same plate. The first time I assembled this, I wasn't sure if three preparations would feel like abundance or confusion. It turned out to be pure clarity.

I made this for a friend who'd been talking about wanting to eat lighter, and watching her face when she took that first bite—the burrata spilling into the still-warm roasted tomatoes, the basil hitting all at once—I knew this wasn't just salad. It became our thing that summer, the dish that showed up whenever we wanted to feel a little fancy without the stress.

Ingredients

• Fresh cherry or grape tomatoes, halved (1 cup): These stay bright and firm, giving you clean tomato flavor without any cooked softness—they're your crisp anchor.
• Cherry or grape tomatoes for roasting, whole (1 cup): Roasting concentrates their sweetness and wrinkles their skin slightly, creating little flavor bombs that burst differently than fresh ones.
• Sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained and sliced (1/2 cup): These are the umami deepness, the memory of summer held in a concentrate—use the good kind packed in actual oil, not the sad dried versions.
• Mixed salad greens (4 cups): Arugula, baby spinach, or mesclun all work; I prefer a mix because you want some peppery notes and some mild ones playing against the tomatoes.
• Fresh burrata cheese, (2 balls, about 200 g total): This is non-negotiable—it's creamy, it's rich, it's what makes this feel indulgent when it's technically light.
• Extra virgin olive oil (3 tbsp): Use the good stuff here; the quality matters more than in a cooked dish since it's tasting straight-up.
• Balsamic glaze or vinegar (1 tbsp): Glaze is sweeter and more forgiving; vinegar needs the honey to balance it out—know your bottle before you pour.
• Honey (1 tsp): Just enough to soften the vinegar's sharpness without making anything sweet.
• Garlic clove, minced (1 small): One clove is all you need; more becomes aggressive, less and you lose that whisper of sharpness.
• Fresh basil leaves, torn (1/4 cup): Tear by hand, never cut with a knife—bruising the leaves releases more of that green, peppery perfume.
• Salt and pepper: Flaky sea salt at the end if you can get it; it's a small thing that makes the texture more interesting than fine table salt.

Instructions

Get your oven hot and ready:

Set it to 400°F and let it fully preheat while you gather everything else. A properly heated oven is the difference between roasted tomatoes that blister and ones that just sit there steaming.

Roast the tomatoes until they're blistered:

Spread whole tomatoes on a sheet, coat with 1 tablespoon olive oil, season generously with salt and pepper, and slide them in for 12–15 minutes. You're looking for wrinkled skin and a slight char on the bottom—that's where the sweetness concentrates. Let them cool just enough that you can touch them without burning your fingers.

Build your dressing in a small bowl:

Whisk the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil with balsamic, honey, minced garlic, salt, and pepper. Taste it before you dress the salad—the dressing should make your mouth water a little, that balance of rich and bright.

Lay down your greens:

Spread them across a platter or arrange on individual plates. This is your base, your blank canvas—don't overthink it.

Arrange the tomato trio:

Scatter fresh halved tomatoes, warm roasted tomatoes, and sun-dried tomato slices across the greens, spreading them evenly so every bite gets all three textures.

Tear and nestle the burrata:

Break the burrata into rough pieces and tuck them among the tomatoes and greens. Don't spread it thin—you want creamy pockets that you'll discover as you eat.

Dress it gently:

Drizzle the dressing over the whole thing, being careful not to drown it. You can always add more, but you can't take it back.

Finish with basil and serve right away:

Scatter torn basil over the top, add that flaky sea salt if you have it, and bring it to the table while those roasted tomatoes are still holding onto their warmth. That contrast between warm and cool is part of the magic.

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The first time someone told me this salad changed how they thought about side dishes, I realized it was because it didn't feel like a side at all. It was substantial, it was satisfying, and it tasted like someone had thought about every single element on the plate.

Why Three Tomatoes Matter

Using one type of tomato would be easier, sure, but it would flatten the whole experience. Fresh tomatoes give you brightness and structure, roasted ones give you depth and warmth, and sun-dried tomatoes are the umami secret that makes everything else taste more like itself. It's the difference between a good salad and one that stays in your memory. Once you understand how each preparation changes the fruit, you start seeing this technique everywhere—on pasta, with mozzarella, tossed into grains, layered in a sandwich. The flight format isn't fancy; it's just paying attention.

The Burrata Question

Burrata is technically mozzarella with a creamy center, and that creamy center is what matters here. When it touches those still-warm roasted tomatoes, something magical happens—it softens just slightly, becomes even more luxurious, and turns the whole plate into something richer than the sum of its parts. If your burrata comes cold from the fridge, let it sit out for 10 minutes before you tear it. You want it to have a little give to it, not be completely firm and resistant. And please, buy it from somewhere that actually keeps it cold and sells it quickly. Bad burrata is a sad thing.

Timing and Temperature Play

This salad lives in a conversation between warm and cold, and that dialogue is intentional. The roasted tomatoes are still releasing heat when they hit the plate, the fresh tomatoes are cool and snappy, and the burrata hovers somewhere in between, responding to everything around it. The greens stay crisp because they're cool and they're on top, creating layers of different temperatures as you eat down through the plate. This is why you assemble it just before serving—it's a moment in time, not something that sits around waiting.

• If your kitchen is very warm, you can chill the plates before you start assembling.
• The dressing can be made up to an hour ahead, but everything else should happen in the 10 minutes before you eat.
• Pair this with something cold and light—a crisp white wine or even just sparkling water with fresh lemon.

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This salad taught me that sometimes the most impressive meals are just about choosing really good ingredients and then getting out of their way. Every element here is doing exactly what it should, and that simplicity is its own kind of elegance.

Recipe Questions & Answers

→ What type of tomatoes are used in this dish?

Three kinds of tomatoes are featured: fresh halved cherry or grape tomatoes, roasted whole cherry or grape tomatoes, and sliced sun-dried tomatoes in oil.

→ How are the tomatoes prepared for roasting?

Whole cherry or grape tomatoes are drizzled with olive oil, seasoned with salt and pepper, then roasted at 400°F for 12 to 15 minutes until blistered and tender.

→ What cheese complements the tomatoes and greens?

Creamy burrata cheese is torn into pieces and nestled among the tomatoes and mixed salad greens to add richness.

→ What ingredients are in the dressing?

The dressing blends extra virgin olive oil, balsamic glaze or vinegar, honey, minced garlic, salt, and freshly ground black pepper for a balanced finish.

→ Can this dish accommodate dietary restrictions?

This preparation is vegetarian and naturally gluten-free, but always verify sun-dried tomatoes for allergens or additives.