- Paul Newman shared his tomato-endive salad recipe in the Newman’s Own Cookbook.
- The salad gets big flavor from crumbled bacon and some Newman’s Own vinaigrette.
- Upgrade the recipe with salad staples like cucumber, boiled eggs, sunflower seeds and more.
There’s something special about a fresh salad made with just a few ingredients. Not only are simple salads delicious, but they come together quickly and can be the perfect thing for a quick meal or a healthy snack. Salads with only a couple of ingredients can also be incredibly beautiful. Case in point: a tomato and endive salad shared by late actor Paul Newman in his late-’90s cookbook, Newman’s Own Cookbook.
“I like salads for lunch, and this one is at the top of my list,” Newman writes in the cookbook. “Of course, I use Newman’s Own dressing on them, but if you have the questionable taste of preferring some others, suit yourself.”
The salad, which serves four people, has just four ingredients: two large tomatoes (as fresh and ripe as possible), 8 ounces of endive (about three medium-sized heads), three slices of bacon and, of course, Newman’s Own salad dressing (or the vinaigrette-style dressing you most prefer).
To make Newman’s simple salad, cut the tomatoes into a small dice. Slice the endive to make four equal portions and mix each with tomatoes in serving bowls. Cook the bacon until it’s very crisp, crumble it up and sprinkle some crumbly bacon over each bowl of salad. Toss each salad with dressing to taste.
Since tomatoes may help reduce the risk of heart disease, among other helpful health benefits, they’re a great addition to any salad. And endive has a deep flavor profile ranging from bitter to sweet, making it a great way to get in some healthy, fiber-packed salad greens. Newman’s quick-and-easy tomato salad recipe is another perfect way to use up your crop of end-of-summer tomatoes, right up there with Ina Garten’s Tomatoes & Burrata Salad and the latest viral drink trend, tomato lemonade.
We love just how simple Newman’s salad truly is, but we can’t help but think of more additions that would further boost the delicious flavors of this dish. In fact, it’s a great base salad to throw together as a way to use up extra “toppings” you may have lying around in your refrigerator. We can see topping this tomato salad with crumbled hard-boiled eggs, shredded Cheddar cheese, leftover corn kernels, crumbly blue cheese or crunchy sunflower seeds to give it even more flavor. And, adding a pinch of sea salt and fresh black pepper to those greens could take the flavors even further.
Looking for more simple salads to try for your next meal? Consider our Simple Green Salad with Citronette, Simple Carrot & Cabbage Salad or Cucumber Vinegar Salad, all of which contain fresh ingredients you’ll feel great about serving. And, if you’re not a fan of Newman’s Own dressing or want to make your very own vinaigrette dressing at home, try whipping up one of our favorite celebrity-loved vinaigrettes, like Stevie Wonder’s favorite vegan bacon vinaigrette or the Dijon mustard-based vinaigrette Christina Applegate learned to make after falling in love with it in France.
In the meantime, catch us making this fresh, tomato-y salad and putting on Cat on a Hot Tin Roof or Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid in Newman’s honor.
