Cherry Tomato Salad with olives

In serving bowl, squash cherry tomatoes with one hand while holding the other over them so they don’t splatter all over everything (I just cut mine in half). Put olives on cutting board and gently smash them with a rolling pin, a cup or even your thumb. Remove pits and add olives to the salad bowl. (Sometimes I get lazy and buy the sliced ones in a can. Not authentic, but easier) Drizzle in a little vinegar and grind some pepper on top. Add oil and toss. Just before serving, “rip in” the basil and arugula and toss well. You can use different colored cherry tomatoes, green, yellow striped, whatever you can find. You can use pitted olives, but you won’t have fun squishing out the pits. And pitted olives have lost some of their flavor. Jamie Oliver the creator of this salad, calls it The Squash and Smash”. It’s such a minimal recipe it’s not really written up as a recipe. Just remember to use 4 parts cherry tomatoes and 1 part olives, plus some vinegar, a little black pepper and a few glugs of good olive oil. Add some basil and arugula and you’re done. You can even toss leftovers (if there are any) with hot spaghetti.