This dressing is from Patricia Wells' exquisite cookbook, Vegetable Harvest. In the cookbook the dressing is featured with a salad made with couscous, spinach and spring onions -- a recipe worth buying the whole book for (although there are dozens of others just as winning).
Once after making the couscous salad I had some dressing leftover and drizzled it over a tomato, discovering that the onion-y flavor of the chives in the dressing were a perfect partner to the tomato's bright acidic taste. I now make this dressing every summer when the local tomatoes start arriving at my greenmarket.
Even though the dressing combines lemon juice and cream it doesn't curdle. I suspect that this may be due to the use of light cream, which Ms. Wells explicitly specifies. Light cream isn't always easy to find but I buy it either at a large supermarket or even better, at Whole Foods, which sells a very good one under their own dairy label. If there's any light cream left over it's a luxurious treat added to iced coffee.
Serves 4.
Ingredients
1 cup light cream
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
1/3 cup fresh chives, snipped (I use scissors to do this) plus 1/4 cup extra for garnish
3 to 4 large local, ripe tomatoes cored and cut into thick slices (about 12 slices)
In a jar with a cover, add the lemon juice and salt and shake or stir until the salt dissolves. Add the cream and snipped chives, cover the jar and shake until combined. You're not trying to whip the cream but the shaking will slightly thicken the dressing. Refrigerate until ready to use.
Place the sliced tomatoes on individual serving plates. Drizzle the dressing over the tomatoes and sprinkle with additional chives for added flavor and as a garnish.
Serve immediately.
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