Frederic Anton's heirloom tomato salad

My tomato plants aren't doing very well this year. I think it's because we've had a very mild summer. So when I saw heirloom tomatoes in every color at the Ferry Building farmer's market, I had to have some. This recipe is from Vegetable Harvest. It's a simple tomato salad with a unique dressing of lime and vanilla. The dressing is made a day in advance - the seeds from one vanilla bean are combined with the juice of two limes, a touch of salt, and 1/4 cup of olive oil. I chose to about half the amount of olive oil and added a squeeze of honey to temper the acidity. The dressing sits in the fridge overnight, and the zest from the limes is reserved in a separate container. When you're ready to serve the salad, simply slice the tomatoes, drizzle them with the dressing, and sprinkle them with lime zest, freshly ground pepper and fleur de sel. This was a fun way to dress up tomatoes - the vanilla really adds an exotic note to the dish.