The Perfect Summer Salad: Tomato, Cucumber, and Dill
Hot summer days call for enjoying the fresh produce of the season, with as little adulteration as possible. That’s what this salad is all about. It comes together quickly and works great as a lunch, dinner or snack. Plant-based, dairy-free, and gluten-free.
Start with the best Salad ingredients
The number one thing that will turn your salads from ‘blah’ to ‘wow!’ is fresh, ripe ingredients.
Tomatoes. If possible, get a couple big heirloom tomatoes for this salad. Choose different colored ones to naturally vary the salad flavor.
Cucumbers. Any fresh cucumbers will do, I but I prefer the smaller and skinnier ones, with small/fewer seeds. They’re crunchy and flavorful, and the skin is tender. Look for them at the farmer’s market, or look for pickling or persian cukes at the grocery store.
Dill. Adding fresh herbs to your meals whenever possible is always a good idea. They’ve got a concentration of nutrients that you just can’t beat. This recipe calls for a “generous handful” of dill and you can make that handful as big as you want. If you ask me, the more dill, the better!
Dressing. We don’t make a formal dressing for this salad, just toss in some olive oil, lemon juice and salt and pepper. I gave you some guidelines to go with, but if you want to add more olive oil (for instance), go ahead and do it. It’s your salad!
Tips on Batching and Leftovers
As with any salad, this one tastes best when served fresh. You can store leftovers in the fridge, but it’s best to eat them sooner rather than later because the salt will extract much of the natural juices out of the veggies, and tomatoes tend to lose their flavor when refrigerated. So this isn’t one of those ‘create a big batch” types of recipes. But it’s so quick and easy to pull together, you won’t lose too much time if you make it last minute.
Tomato, Cucumber and Dill Salad
Makes about 6 cups
Ingredients
1 pound of tomatoes, cut into bite-sized chunks
1 pound cucumbers, cut into bite-sized chunks
Generous handful of dill, chopped
1 T extra virgin olive oil (plus extra, to taste)
Juice of 1/2 lemon (about 2 T)
1/2 t sea salt (plus extra, to taste)
1/4 t freshly ground black pepper
Directions
Prepare all the ingredients, and then toss them together in a large mixing bowl. Taste and add more salt and pepper, olive oil, and lemon if you desire.
Enjoy!
