Set in stone.

Herbed tomato salad: Notice the pounded garlic and herb paste from the dressing in this version of the recipe.

“A thing isn’t beautiful because it lasts.”

Who said the above quote? Any guesses? Sophocles perhaps, Thomas Aquinas or one of the founding fathers. It’s too serious for Franklin. Maybe Jefferson?

Nope. This was Vision, or Paul Bettany playing the Vision, in Avengers: Age of Ultron. While it might not have historic pedigree it is pithy. David Thiel, my classmate at Deerfield Academy, now the head of the Tilton School, shared this quote with me last December over a cup of coffee when I was home visiting my family for Christmas.

Here’s where I decided the mortar and pestle was too much work and just threw in the herbs.

“We’ve been saying it a lot lately,” David told me, “as a way of questioning the things we do just because that’s how they’ve always been done.” (Note: I should admit in an academic confluence of transparent reporting and storytelling that, while I put his words in quotes, I am paraphrasing from memory. But the sentiment is accurate and it does carry more punch than straightforward exposition.)

This is the point where I could expound on the dramatic shakeups in our world right now. The ideas of normality amidst a pandemic or the beliefs we call history that deserve better context as we explore our past through a sharper lens. But I’m going to talk about a tomato salad. Specifically my recipe for this herbed tomato salad.

I first created it in June of 2014, a simple combination of fresh summer tomatoes and crumbled feta cheese with an herbed, red wine vinaigrette. The original recipe, and the one published in my book, Seasons to Taste, calls for pounding garlic, herbs and coarse salt into a base for a sharp, red wine vinaigrette. The book is hardcover so, as you might imagine, this version is gospel.

Last year I filmed this recipe, in the kitchen with my parents, for an episode of my upcoming television show. On camera I tell you, the viewer, that I used to pound the herbs into a paste, but it’s a lot of work, so I just chop them and throw them in now. It’s on tv so, as you might imagine, this version is gospel.

Another recent batch I made for a television appearance on Good Morning Washington.

However, a month or so ago I made a batch of this salad for a contactless catering gig I did for a friend’s birthday. I broke out my Vitamix blender and combined the garlic, herbs, oil, vinegar and the feta cheese and pureed them into a silky, creamy vinaigrette ready to be tossed through with the tomatoes for serving.

To be honest, there are things I like about all three. It photographs beautifully with the chopped herbs. Poundingthem with garlic and salt creates a wonderfully sharp, pungent flavor, and the creamy dressing from the blender has an entirely different texture, the taste experience being more evenly blended.

So, I’m listing the original recipe below, the one with the pounding in the mortar and pestle. But you can make it any way you would like. After all, if we set something as simple as this recipe in stone simply because it is in print or on television, what else have we set in stone that can (and maybe should) be generously released without consequence or perhaps to great improvement?

And you thought I was just going to talk about a salad.

Herbed Tomato Salad

Serves 6 - 8

This salad is so good it deserves hyperbole. Here goes. In the summertime, when the corn is high this simple salad celebrates tomatoes at their beautifully-balanced, sugary, acidic best. Sweet tomatoes, sharp, salty feta and the bright, earthy herb and red wine vinaigrette combine three big personalities on one stage and share the limelight in perfect balance delivering one delicious experience.

Ingredients:

• 4 cloves garlic, minced

• 2 tbs each chopped basil, parsley, chives and oregano

• 1 tbs chopped thyme

• 1 tsp Dijon mustard

• 1 ⁄3 cup red wine vinegar

• 2 ⁄3 cup olive oil–the good stuff!

• 5 medium tomatoes, cut in small wedges

• 1 ⁄2 cup crumbled feta

Directions:

• Make herb paste: Place the garlic in a mortar, sprinkle with coarse salt and mash into a paste. Add chopped basil, parsley, chives, oregano and thyme to the mortar. Pound into a paste with garlic, adding additional coarse salt if needed.

• Make vinaigrette: Transfer herb paste to medium bowl, and whisk together with Dijon mustard and red wine vinegar. Season to taste with pepper. While whisking, drizzle oil into vinegar mixture. This will form a creamy emulsion. Taste vinaigrette with a tomato wedge. Season to taste with additional vinegar or oil, salt and pepper.

• Assemble salad: Lightly dress tomatoes with vinaigrette and toss with feta.

TIP: Once chopped and dressed the tomatoes will give off extra liquid, diluting the dressing. If making ahead, save 1/3 of the dressing to bump up the flavor before serving.