Tomato & Blue Cheese Salad Stack
Take fresh summer tomatoes to the next level with this Tomato & Blue Cheese Salad Stack. Juicy sliced tomatoes are layered with creamy blue cheese spread and then drizzled with homemade shallot vinaigrette.
Any tomato haters out there? I’d be surprised if there were any reading here, since so many of my recipes include tomatoes. But in real life, I know a surprising amount of people who don’t like tomatoes.
Look, I get it: those sad lifeless slices of pink tomato that come on fast food sandwiches are horrible. But there is NOTHING like a fresh, local, juicy, farmer’s market tomato.
I grew up eating tomatoes that small town neighbors would grow in their garden and then sell in their front yard on a leave-your-money-in-the-jar honor system setup.
My mom would just cut these tomatoes into large wedges, sprinkle them with salt and pepper, and serve them as a side dish of their own (sometimes alongside some baby back ribs rubbed with the best rib rub).
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I still serve summer tomatoes that way in my own home, but sometimes I’ll take a few extra steps and make this composed Tomato & Blue Cheese Salad Stack.
It looks fancy enough to feel like you’re eating at a restaurant, but it’s so simple that even a kitchen novice can put it together.
About this Tomato & Blue Cheese Salad Stack:
- With just a few ingredients, the quality of each ingredient matters. Make this with fresh, juicy summer tomatoes.
- The cheese mixture is simply a combination of cream cheese (I like the whipped kind since it’s nice and light), crumbled blue cheese, and a touch of lemon zest to add some acid to the richness.
- The homemade shallot vinaigrette almost steals the show here, as I love a good homemade dressing. Make a double batch and save the extra for a green salad later in the week! You can also use citrus salad dressing to dress this salad stack, if you prefer.
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Tomato & Blue Cheese Salad Stack
Ingredients
For the Blue Cheese Spread:
- ½ cup whipped cream cheese
- ¼ cup crumbled blue cheese
- ½ teaspoon lemon zest
For the Shallot Vinaigrette:
- 1 ½ tablespoons white wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon minced shallot
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
For the Salad Stacks:
- 2 large tomatoes cut crosswise into 3 thick slices each
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Fresh basil for garnish
Instructions
Make the Blue Cheese Spread:
- In small bowl, stir cream cheese, blue cheese and lemon zest until well combined.
Make the Shallot Vinaigrette:
- In small bowl, whisk together vinegar, shallots and honey. While whisking, slowly drizzle in oil until all oil is incorporated.
Build the Salad Stacks:
- Place one tomato slice on each of two plates. Top each tomato slice with 3 heaping tablespoons of Blue Cheese Spread. Repeat with remaining tomato slices and cheese spread, ending with tomato slices.
- Drizzle salad stacks with Shallot Vinaigrette and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Garnish with basil and serve immediately.
Notes
- Home Chef Tip: Using large tomatoes means that each tomato stack is 2 side dish servings (kind of like splitting a small plate at a restaurant). This recipe can also be made using 4 smaller tomatoes so that each person can have their own salad stack.
I’m one of your tomato haters – actually not good, flavorful, ripe fresh tomatoes, but tomato sauce (I had an overdose of that on one of our cruises, that was so bad I now avoid tomato sauce whenever I can). I like the idea of this shallot vinaigrette. and the blue cheese spread sounds good, too, though that is one of my least favorite cheeses. I’m not sure I can find farmers market quality tomatoes here in the desert, but I’ll save the recipe just in case. Especially for the vinaigrette, since I occasionally need one of those.
Haha, I think I can understand about the tomato sauce. I definitely hope you get a chance to try the shallot vinaigrette. It would be good on just about anything salad or veggie I can think of!
Looking so good! Love the photo! And the recipe!
Thank you so much, Vonda!