Summer’s tomatoes are so delicious that nothing other than a bit of salt is needed to bring them to the table.  I, personally, love them best just pulled warm from the vine going straight to my mouth.  Unfortunately, I don’t get the opportunity to indulge in this too often so I look for other ways to enjoy the sweet, acidic hit that the perfect summer tomato offers.  Sometimes this might be a slice of fresh, homemade white bread slathered with sweet butter and topped with juicy tomato slices and a pinch of sea salt – other times might find the ubiquitous (and often tasteless) combination of tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil, drizzled with green, spicy olive oil or grilled, briefly, to squish the warm flesh and juices on a few slices of cold pork or chicken (cooked, of course!) – and what could be better than a great BLT?  The possibilities are endless when perfection is at hand.

In this salad the slightly tart, fruity flavor of the middle-Eastern spice, sumac, helps accentuate the sweet acidity of the tomatoes while the ricotta salata adds the necessary salt.