Tomato and cucumber salad
Tomato and cucumber salad is seriously the easiest side dish to make, yet it is so refreshing and light which makes this salad a perfect companion to any rich or heavy dish. I recently made some shrimp and grits (recipe to come soon) and did not want the hassle of making a traditional salad with croutons, romaine, eggs, or whatever one puts in a salad.
This particular side dish stems from a similar quick cucumber salad my grandma Mabel use to make. I use to live next door to my grandma and would eat dinner there quite often and she would keep a batch of her cucumber salad in the refrigerator and use the cucumbers from her own garden. She literally added peeled and cut cucumbers with salt, pepper, water, sugar, and vinegar. She kept mass amounts it in the refrigerator for anyone to eat at anytime, but it was always gone by dinner. For as long as I can remember, my grandmother and grandfather always had a massive garden with turnip greens, corn, peppers and all kinds of vegetables and always shared their bountiful harvest with their church members. I need to desperately start my own vegetable garden, but on a smaller scale like in a flower-pot. I will be starting one real small as in baby step small. I think I will start with cherry tomatoes, because I pop them like candy. For now, I will have to get them at a local farmers market or grocery store.
My updated version of tomato and cucumber salad adds a couple more ingredients then how my grandmother made it. When storing it in the refrigerator to marinate, it will create its own juice. This liquid is gold and you must never throw it away unless you’re not a fan of things like pickle juice, which I am. I serve this side dish in a small bowl because there is that much juice coming from the tomato and cucumbers once that salt hits them. You can alternatively serve the dish without the liquid, but I just happen to love it. This side dish needs to be stored in a covered container for no more than 2 days. The tomato will get gnarly and soggy, but that will not be a problem because it will be gone as fast as you can make it.
Tomato and Cucumber Salad
Ingredients
- 1 English Cucumber diced.
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes, cut in half
- 3 tbsp white vinegar I used a German vinegar called Surig which is concentrated, so use half the amount.
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1/4 cup red onion finely diced
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
-
Wash and dice cucumbers.
-
Wash then halve the cherry tomatoes.
-
Finely dice the red onion.
-
Add the vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper.
-
Mix well and cover your container and refrigerate for 30 minutes or so before serving.
Recipe Notes
Keep in mind when you dice the cucumbers the cherry tomatoes will be slightly larger. Make sure to have tomato and cucumber same in size if using anything other than cherry tomatoes.
Tomato and cucumber salad will store in refrigerator for no more than 2 days.
Saturn
Saturn Phillips is currently employed full time with the USPS. She is an active Steward for her local in the Mail handler Union and is passionate about fighting for the jobs of Mail handlers. While she isn't busy working, she loves to take care of her family and her fur baby, Sophie the french bulldog. Saturn believes in cooking Sunday dinners and getting back to the basics of cooking and learning about life in the kitchen. In the kitchen is where she does all her brain storming to come up with new recipes from different cultures and is always willing to try something new or develop a new technique. Saturn loves to visit local mom and pop shops in Nashville and feature them in her blog. She says, "It is extremely important to help local businesses and build a community of supporting members that always helps each other out."
