Serve this salad with our delicious and hearty Mushroom Stuffed Meatloaf and Herb and Garlic Mashed Potatoes for a vibrant summer meal. The older I get the more I long for a small vegetable patch but the reality of urban living leaves me only wishing for one. The alternative to getting fresh, seasonal vegetables is farmers market. Luckily there is no shortage of them in London. Whenever I venture out to my local market the main thing I am looking for is large, ripe, bursting with flavour heirloom tomatoes. Everything else I happen to find there is secondary.
Heirloom Tomatoes
I’ve loved tomatoes all my life and could never understand when people rejected them. At least, until I moved to the States in the 90s and realised the tomatoes sold in most supermarkets were nothing like the ones I was brought up on. Hard, anaemic looking and watery in taste. If that was people’s only idea of what tomatoes were, I didn’t blame them for feeling underwhelmed. Thankfully the 2000s brought in slow food movement, farmers markets and quality produce. My beloved tomatoes were restored to me and I couldn’t be happier. The beauty of these tomatoes is in their variety. Different shapes and colours all speak of different taste and even texture! When working with ingredients of this quality you don’t need much seasoning to conjure up the taste. All you need is a little help to enhance what is already there.
Classic Cucumber and Tomato Salad
The salad recipe I am sharing with you today is not revolutionary. It’s the recipe I grew up eating every single day in the summer. No exaggeration here. The ingredient list can differ slightly but the constat ones, the backbone of this salad, are crunchy cucumbers and ripe, juicy tomatoes. The best ones to use are heirloom or garden tomatoes and small Kirby cucumbers, sometimes also called Persian cucumbers. They have tiny seeds and a whole lot of crunch! It might not be immediately obvious by you can change the taste of this salad by varying the way vegetables are cut. When I want my tomato flavour to be dominant I cut them in thick wedges like I did in the Fattoush Salad. In this salad I sliced everything very thinly using my mandoline. I wanted the flavours to blend instead of competing with each other. The uniform cut achieves that quite well. Paper thin slices make a big differences when adding fresh onions or shallots to salads as well as dressing them with a vinaigrette. Mix the onions with the dressing a few minutes before adding the rest of the ingredients. The acidity mellows them out, taking the bitterness away but leaving the flavour and sweetness to shine. Another important point in making salads is leaving the salt and dressing until the last minute as they draw moisture out of vegetables. Do it too early and you end up serving a very soggy salad. Not good!
Salad Dressing Options
The dressing comes in two varieties. You can either add sour cream or creme fraiche to the tomato and cucumber salad. Or dress it with a zesty vinaigrette. When I was little my mum used unrefined sunflower oil in this salad and it added a distinct flavour. Sadly I can’t find a similar product in the UK. I substituted it with unrefined olive oil, which turned out to be an excellent choice. Although the salad of my childhood was dressed simply with salt and good quality oil, nowadays I go just a step further and make a simple vinaigrette. The acidity in the vinaigrette balances out the flavours so well and soften the bite of red onions. In this case I mixed up red wine vinegar, half a teaspoon of Dijon mustard, salt and olive oil in a mason jar, gave it a shake and the vinaigrette is ready.
Variations
I opted for the simplest version here. Just cucumbers, tomatoes, thinly sliced red onion and a touch of fresh dill. However a myriad of other things could be added. Here are my suggestions: Radishes, bell peppers of all colours, avocadoes, olives, green onions instead of red onions, chives If dill is not your herb, you can use parsley or basil in this beautiful salad. Or add a bit of oregano, sprinkle with feta and enjoy this tomato cucumber salad Greek style.
Serving suggestions
This salad is incredibly versatile and goes well with a variety of main dishes. I love serving it on the side of Ribeye Steak, Spatchcock Chicken or this Oven Baked Bacon Wrapped Fish. Truth is you’d be pressed hard to find a dish this salad doesn’t go with. The key is to serve it alongside a hearty main, such as Classic Meatloaf or Hamburger. The salad provides heaps of welcome freshness. If you want to experience a true Russian meal, try serving it together with this Russian classic Meat Patties Kotleti!
Storage and leftovers
Fresh salads like this one are best eaten on the day and won’t improve with time. Leftover can be refrigerated in an airtight container or under plastic wrap for up to 4 days, but may become soggy the longer it’s kept. I usually have dressing leftover, conveniently already in a mason jar that’s perfect for storing it in the fridge. Because the dressing doesn’t include herbs or garlic it can be stored almost indefinitely, although you may need to give it a shake before reserving if the ingredients separate.
More fresh salads to try
Spring Pea and Arugula Salad Israeli Salad with Lemon Garlic and Tahini Dressing Traditional Salad Nicoise Green Goddess Pasta Salad
