Heriloom Tomato Salad with Grilled Red Onions and Pesto Vinaigrette

To go along with the post about heirloom tomatoes, I thought I would relay to you one of my favorite salad recipes. This salad has a burst of tomato and onion flavor that can only be enhanced by the fresh flavors of garlic and basil in the Vinaigrette. If you enjoy these fresh flavors, you will love this salad. It's filling, healthful, and it tastes wonderful! Enjoy and let me know what you think!

Salad:
2 red onions, peeled, cut into half moons and thinly sliced
1/4 cup olive oil
1 pound various heirloom tomatoes (approximately 4 to 6 tomatoes)
kosher salt or course sea salt and cracked black pepper, to taste
1/4 cup pesto vinaigrette
1 head of Romane lettuce or as desired
basil leaves for garnish

Pesto Vinaigrette:
1 clove garlic, peeled
kosher salt, to taste
1/4 cup toasted walnuts nuts (optional)
2 cups fresh basil leaves, stems removed
4 tablespoons red wine vinegar
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
cracked black pepper, to taste

1. Preheat a grill.
2. Toss the onions in a bowl with the oil and season with salt and pepper.
3. Remove the cores from the tomatoes and cut them in various shapes and sizes (wedges, round slices, half-moons, etc.) and reserve.
4. Place onions on the grill over medium heat and grill until the onions are tender and caramelized, about 10 minutes.
5. To make vinaigrette, in the bowl of a food processor, purée garlic and salt until a paste is formed. Add walnuts nuts and basil and process until a fine paste formed. With motor running, add vinegar and then slowly add oil in a thin stream until the mixture is emulsified. Taste and adjust seasoning.
6. Place romane lettuce as desired on the plates. Arrange the tomatoes over lettuce. Season with salt and pepper. Place several slices of grilled onions on top of the tomatoes and drizzle with pesto vinaigrette. Arrange several basil leaves on and around tomatoes and sprinkle with additional cracked black pepper if desired.

I found this recipe at online, but I decided to change it a little bit to my liking. If you would like to check out the original recipe, just click on the link.
seasonalchef