You’ll be seeing many variations of ‘tomato salad’ this week at Simple Kitchen Seasons.

This is a light summer salad that uses two types of tomatoes along with nectarines and plums, chorizo sausage and prosciutto. It’s perfect for an appetizer or salad course.

If you’d rather have a vegan version instead, omit the prosciutto and chorizo sausage.

Tomato and stone fruit salad, with Spanish chorizo and prosciutto crudo

Use only the ripest tomatoes and stone fruits in this salad. Your taste buds will thank you.

1 Roma tomato, cored and sliced lengthwise (see note 1)
1/4 cup Sungold cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered, depending on size (see note 2)
1 mango nectarine, pitted and diced (see note 3)
2 Shiro plums, pitted and diced (see note 4)
1 1 inch length piece of chorizo sausage, sliced into 1/4″ slices on a bias, then julienned
2 tablespoons chopped prosciutto
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh-squeezed lemon juice (see recipe below)
1/4 teaspoon chopped oregano
1/4 teaspoon chopped mint
sea salt and freshly milled black pepper, to taste

Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Make sure you add the salt and pepper last. Mix well, then spoon onto salad plates and serve at once. If the Sungold cherry tomatoes are tart, you can omit the lemon juice.

Time: About 30 minutes, including prep.

Notes:

1. Substitute plum tomatoes if unavailable.
2. Substitute regular cherry tomatoes if unavailable.
3. Mango nectarines are a hybrid variety of plums, known for their golden yellow flesh and faint mango-like flavor. Regular nectarines are fine.
4. Shiro plums are an heirloom plum variety and extraordinarily sweet and juicy. If unavailable, use regular plums and omit the lemon juice (or adjust to taste).

This is my contribution for Souper (Soup, Salad and Sammie) Sundays for the week of August 6, 2012 to August 12, 2012, a weekly foodblogging event organized and hosted by Deb of Kahakai Kitchen.