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This Cucumber Salad with Tomato and Dill was exactly what I needed for lunch while buried deep working on cookbook #2. It’s fast, fresh and uses ingredients that are in my garden this time of year! The healthy factor helps as well, this salad is chock full of everything good for you; onions, olive oil, tomatoes, cucumbers….it’s a great health fix so that you can have ice cream later. Or is that just me?
Cucumber Salad is Fresh and Easy
Easy is what I needed! Cucumber salad is a cheap and delicious way to take advantage of the produce that is available during the summer, in the stores and in your own backyard!
Being buried in cookbook work is a painful joy. I do ALL of it myself, the recipes, food cooking and staging and photos so it’s an incredibly enormous amount of work. Like, almost mind boggling, actually, when I stop to think about how much work it is and to be honest a lot of people are surprised when I tell them the entire thing was done by me. Believe it or not, it’s not the standard (yet) that cookbook authors style and shoot their own photos and all of the content. With the influx of food bloggers into the cookbook world however, it’s becoming more and more common, but honestly, name any “big” name food star and they totally don’t do their own photos. We food bloggers are already doing this every day on our food blogs, so honestly, it’s just another day at the zoo.
That’s also what happens when you are a type A : there is no way I could hire a photographer for my own book, it would drive me crazy. And then there’s the obvious “why pay someone else when I can do it myself” mentality. I’m cheap!
However, judging from the amazing reception of cookbook #1 , Flapper Pie & a Blue Prairie Sky, this one will be worth it again. I hope. There’s always a deep seated fear that no one is going to like my next book ( an unfounded fear, I hope) and I obviously love to stress out about things I can’t control. It’s my gig.
Can You Make Cucumber Salad Ahead of Time?
Vegetable salads like this are always better made ahead of time, but not too much ahead of time. There is a fine balance between letting the flavours meld and having all of the juices leak out of the vegetables and end up in a pool in the bottom of the bowl. This can sit for a couple of hours, but shouldn’t be made the day before.
How do You Sweat or Soften Cucumbers?
You can place the cucumbers in a large colander and sprinkle them with salt, letting them sit for 20 minutes. The salt will draw out the extra water and help them soften. You then pat them dry with a paper towel – if you don’t want the extra salt, you can quickly rinse then and pat them dry again. You can also do this with the tomatoes, and then the salad will last longer!
Cucumber Salad Tips & Tricks
- If you are eating this right away, you don’t have to salt them to draw out the water. I just make it and eat it!
- Tomatoes just don’t last in the fridge overnight, so don’t make this a day ahead of time.
- If you aren’t that big on strong onion flavours, soak the onions in water for 10-15 minutes and then slice them. It will soften the sometimes harsh onion flavour!
Happy non-cooking everyone!
Love,
Karlynn
Cucumber and Tomato Salad with Dill
Ingredients
- 4 cups of cherry tomatoes sliced in half
- 1 large cucumber sliced thin
- 1 cup finely chopped red onion
- 1/2 cup rice vinegar
- 4 teaspoons sugar
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2-4 tablespoons finely chopped fresh dill
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- In a large bowl, mix together the tomatoes, cucumbers and onion.
- Combine the remaining ingredients in a lidded jar; shake to combine, Pour over the vegetables and then toss to mix. Refrigerate for at least an hour to blend the flavours.
- Mix again right before serving and use a slotted spoon to serve, allowing the juices to drain through.
Nutrition
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Christine @ myblissfulmess.com says
This salad is super easy to put together and tastes amazing! It’s a perfect fresh salad to serve at any backyard cookout. I did not have fresh dill on hand, so I substituted dried dill, and it worked out just perfectly. If you use dried, remember you need less than you would the fresh. For dried dill, I used 2 tsp. Thank you so much Karlynn for a wonderful salad recipe!
Ruth Lehman says
This is a great salad when cucumbers and tomatoes are in season. The only change I made was doubling up on the dill. I would definitely make this again. Thanks Ruth