This sweet, tangy Tomato Salad with Homemade Catalina Dressing works well when tomatoes are not at their best but you still want pretty colours on the plate.

My mother (Jenna’s grandmother) started making this salad back in the 60’s and we served it at almost every family event for many years after that. It’s refreshing, flavourful and colourful. There is no need for an extra salad plate (I love that) and, best of all, you can serve it all year round. Most tomatoes in the winter have no flavour, but adding the Catalina dressing and green onions takes care of that.

I confess that our family recipe was made with Kraft Catalina dressing. I now prefer to make my own salad dressings (for the most part), so I decided to give it a shot. Sure enough, I found a 1960’s Catalina Dressing recipe on food.com – with great reviews to boot! I tried it several times and it comes out great. I tweaked it just a touch to my taste – less sugar and vinegar, but feel free to adapt it to your own taste. The salad only takes about 15 minutes to put together (even with the homemade dressing) and another hour or so to sit and blend its flavours.

I serve this salad with just about anything – meat, chicken, turkey or fish. It’s a perfect accompaniment for lox and bagels for brunch, especially served in a glass bowl where you peer through at the beautiful red and green colours. And great for buffets and potlucks. I have a couple of ways in mind to use the Catalina dressing…stay tuned.

Shortcut

Use bottled Catalina dressing (!)

Variations

Add diced avocado before serving
Add finely chopped parsley

: T

Tomato Salad with Homemade Catalina Dressing Recipe

Created by Cheryl on April 10, 2017

This sweet, tangy Tomato Salad with Homemade Catalina Dressing works well when tomatoes are not at their best but you still want pretty colours on the plate

Prep Time:15m
Total Time:1h 15m

Yield: 5-6 servings; and just less than 1 cup Catalina dressing

Ingredients

1 pound tomatoes (I use about 9-10 cocktail tomatoes)
salt
4 green onions

Catalina Dressing

1/4 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons sugar (or 1 1/2 of you prefer less sweet)
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper
1/2 cup light-tasting olive oil or vegetable oil

Instructions

PREPARE TOMATOES AND GREEN ONIONS: Finely chop green onions. Slice tomatoes to 1/4 or 1/2 inch thick. If you are using regular tomatoes, you can cut each slice in half. If tomatoes have a lot of juice and seeds, I grab a bunch at a time and give them a good squeeze between my two hands over the sink. This will prevent the salad from becoming too watery.
MAKE THE CATALINA DRESSING: In a food processor or blender, add all Catalina Dressing ingredients except oil. Pulse a few times until blended. Slowly add the oil and process for a minute. Alternatively, whisk ingredients together in a bowl and slowly add in oil while whisking until thickened.
LAYER THE TOMATO SALAD INGREDIENTS: In a medium sized bowl (glass if possible to see all the colours), add a tablespoon or so of dressing to cover the bottom. Place the tomatoes in a single layer on top of dressing. Lightly sprinkle tomatoes with salt (I was taught this way, but you can omit the salt if you want). Sprinkle with some green onions. Repeat layers, ending with green onions. Cover and let sit for an hour or two on the counter or up to one day in the fridge to blend the flavours.