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I didn't feel like fussing over a perfect Caesar (it's no small feat) or hunting down decent lettuce, so when I saw a big basket of beautiful, Pennsylvania-grown organic tomatoes on the floor at Murray's Cheese where I bought the anchovies, it all came together in my mind.

Keep the warm salad aspect by heating the dressing (a little trick I've been using lately that I picked up from my friend Melissa Clark in her and Peter Berely's book Fresh Food Fast) but skip the Romaine lettuce and Caesar dressing bit and swap in the season's last fat red tomatoes. I saw big thick slices stacked with the fish. Some breadcrumbs for crunch. A wispy ribbons of purple onion and something green like basil, arugula, or spinach.

I ran home and pulled it together, knowing it would be a salad you might want to make for a dinner party this weekend while the tomatoes are still at their best.

Tomato and Boquerones Salad with Garlicky Breadcrumbs
serves 4

1/4 cup olive oil, divided
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons breadcrumbs
1 large, or 2 small ripe tomatoes
16-20 Boquerones or other marinated white anchovies
1/4 purple onion (quartered lengthwise from root to tip)
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
1/4 cup arugula, basil or spinach leaves, sliced in chiffonade
2 teaspoons coarse sea salt

In a small frypan, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat. Sauté garlic for a few seconds, then add breadcrumbs. They will absorb all the oil immediately. Keep moving them around over the heat until they begin to pick up more color. Don't burn them, but cook them until they become a deep brown. Set aside on a paper towel to cool.

Slice onion chunk into very thin crescent-shaped slices, set aside. Slice the tomato horizontally into 1/2" slices.

In the frypan, heat remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil with vinegar over low heat, whisking until emulsified and very warm.

Assemble the salad separately on four plates by placing one slice of tomato in the middle, laying three Boquerones across, then topping with a second tomato slice another one or two anchovies. Spoon a tablespoonful of dressing over the top. Sprinkle a spoonful of breadcrumbs, a pinch of onions and a pinch of sliced greens. Season with a pinch of salt. Serve immediately.