Appetizer Vegetarian · Gluten Free · Salad

Salad of tomatoes, nectarines and labneh with chermoula

Fruits (peaches, nectarines, mangoes) are great with tomatoes, especially when there is lemon or lime juice or fish sauce in the mix.
Lovely recipe from Diana Henry.

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SERVES 6
16oz Greek yogurt
1 garlic clove, grated to a purée
2 large just-ripe nectarines
14oz tomatoes, different shades of red if possible
A good sized bunch cilantro
1½ tbsp white balsamic vinegar
3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

For the chermoula
1/2″ cube of ginger, 
peeled and grated
¼ tsp sweet paprika
1 medium-sized red chili, deseeded and finely chopped
Finely grated zest and juice 
of ½ lemon (you might want 
more juice)
2 garlic cloves, grated to a purée
A good bunch cilantro, 
stalks discarded, leaves 
finely chopped
1 tbsp finely chopped 
flat-leaf parsley
6 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

Make the labneh the day before you want to serve 
the dish. Line a sieve with 
a piece of cheesecloth 
(or a new J-cloth) and set 
it over a bowl. Put the yogurt in the cloth and refrigerate for 24 hours.
The yogurt will lose moisture, leaving you with 
a cheese-like substance. Help it along by giving it 
a squeeze every so often.
Remove the drained yogurt from the cloth. Season with salt and pepper and add the garlic. Store in a container that you can cover.

Mix together the chermoula ingredients in a bowl 
with some seasoning. 
Taste for balance.

Halve and stone the nectarines and cut each half into four or five slices.

Quarter the larger tomatoes 
(or cut into six or eight, depending on their size) and halve the smaller ones. Remove the leaves from the coriander (leave them whole) and discard the stalks.
Toss the tomatoes and the nectarines in a bowl with the balsamic and extra-virgin olive oil and season.
Arrange them on a serving plate and dot chunks of the labneh in among the sliced fruit, scattering with the cilantro leaves.
Spoon over the chermoula and serve.