Heirloom Tomato Salad

I love a beautiful tomato, I'm even fond of the kind that grow on vines. When my I want a squeeze from my tomato I make her some fresh heirloom tomato salad. My tomata's got gams up to here, she's one sweet dish. 

Sorry I got carried away with Sam Spade-isms and confused my lovely wife Lorraine with the vegetable that's really a fruit, biologically speaking the tomato is a fruit. All that said, just like women there are all sorts of tomatoes. In fact there's a perfect tomato for every man and for every occasion. But when it comes to tomato salad for me the king is the Heirloom, of which there are numerous varieties but we'll stick to the generic term Heirloom to avoid too much confusion.

No matter the particular Heirloom in question it probably immediately be the apple of your eye. Unlike hybred tomatoes heirlooms are almost never all red, they do have red in them but they are never the perfectly pristine pictures of rosy purity. Who am I kidding these ladies are not at all attractive on the surface, in fact they can be downright ugly but once you get them behind closed doors and get passed their appearance brother your taste buds are in for the ride of their life!

Tomato salad is the wonderfully simple dish that can work by itself or as an accompaniment to something else. I was introduced to the latter at John's deli in Brooklyn where I heard someone order a chicken cutlet hero (sub, grinder, hoagie) with tamata salad. In Brooklyn there are not tomatoes only tamatas. At first I turned my nose up at the thought of it but when I tried it I was hooked.

Ingredients
Tomatoes
Onion (I like red but you can use whatever you prefer)
Fresh Basil (or dry)
Dried Oregano
Dried or Fresh Thyme
Vinegar (I use Balsamic because I'm sophisticated but Red Wine or some other is good too)

Preparation
Slice your tomatoes into wedges about 1/2" thick
Slice your onion thinnly
Chop up your basil
Combine everything in large bowl and let it stand for a least an hour, refrigerate it if it is going to be more then a couple of hours before you plan to eat it. Yes you could eat it immediately but the wait is worth it since it give everything a chance to marry.

Notes
In mid to late summer when heirlooms are available that is all I use but a nice extra ripe, starting to get a little soft beefsteak or other works too especially in the middle of the winter when a nice tomato salad will remind you of the warm days of August.