Tomato salad with cardamom and lime yogurt

This is a fun take on a summery tomato salad. The cardamom, lime zest, and goat cheese give this some zing. Adapted from Yotam Ottolenghi.

Ingredients

• 70 g Greek yogurt
• 50 g soft goat’s cheese (use a mild fresh cheese for this)
• ½ small garlic clove, crushed
• 1 tsp lime zest
• 1.5 T lime juice
• 1-2 limes – zest finely grated, to get 1 tsp, and juiced, to get 1½ tbsp
• 1/2 t ground cardamom (or, 15 cardamom pods, shells discarded and seeds finely crushed in a mortar)
• 1 large green chili, finely chopped (pith and seeds removed if you prefer less heat)
• 500 g ripe, sweet cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 banana shallot, finely sliced and washed in water
• 60 ml olive oil
• Large handful of mint leaves, roughly chopped
• salt

Instructions

1. Mix the yogurt, goat’s cheese, garlic, and a pinch of salt in a large bowl until smooth.
2. Add half the lime zest, half the cardamom, and half the chili, and stir to combine.
3. In a second bowl, mix the tomatoes, shallot, lime juice, two T oil, and 1/2 t salt with the remaining lime zest, cardamom and chili.
4. Add the yogurt mixture and most of the mint, and stir gently, but not too much – you want still to be able to see the red of the tomatoes and green of the mint in parts.
5. Transfer to a platter, drizzle with the remaining two tablespoons of oil. Finish with the remaining mint and cardamom, and serve.