With the onset of Spring, I’ m just itching for fresh food and sunshine. It’s a little early for produce from my own garden but thanks to the marvels of our modern grocery stores, I can get all I need to whip up this salad in a jiff. This serves as a delicious side dish bursting with garden flavor and can be kept in the refrigerator for several days.
My mouth is watering just thinking about it.
When you see how quick and easy it is, this may very well end up being your favorite salad of the summer!
I’ve already got my garden started for this year and can’t wait to begin bringing in my own tomatoes to put up. I miss having neighbors that garden though. Back when we lived in the teeny tiny town of Rogersville, I’d often find baskets of vegetables left on my front porch by kind neighbors, who I swear grew a garden just so they’d have vegetables to give away! My grandparents have always done that, too. We just get such pleasure in giving to others and the gift of home grown veggies is a tradition long passed down. With that in mind, I’ve planted an OBSCENE amount of tomatoes this year! ~grins with excitement~
Are you ready for a taste of summer? Well here it is!
You’ll need: Tomatoes (I’m using Roma), a big old red onion (which is actually purple so I have no idea who decided to call it red), and two cucumbers.
You can use any raw veggie you like here really, just go with what you like. Be sure to wash them well before using them.
and this.
I LOVE me some Italian dressing. Original, Zesty, any way you look at it, its delicious. HOWEVER, my Mama called and told me I had to try this so I headed right on out to do just that. As an Olive Garden fan, I gotta tell ya, this stuff is dead on to what they serve in their restaurants (my opinion).
Oh and a note: Kraft didn’t sponsor this post or anything. They have no idea that I’m fantasizing about drinking a case of this stuff but if anyone from Kraft reads this and wants to feed my habit, knock yourself out
Chop or slice your cucumber.
I’m leaving my skin on but you can peel it if you prefer.
Place that in a large bowl.
Do the same with your tomato.
Toss that in there too..
If you want you can just use a can of diced tomatoes and drain them.
Chop up your onion..
noticing a pattern here, I bet…
Add that in.
Pour the whole bottle of dressing over it.
Ugh. I made this last week and ate every last bit of it. As soon as I press send on this post I’m heading to get the stuff to make it again!
Lawdy it’s good.
Stir
Cover with a lid and place in the refrigerator for several hours to marinate
If you have a sunshiney pyrex casserole dish like this one, all the better.
This dish makes me happy. The pattern is called Daisy but there are a few other Pyrex patterns often referred to as Daisy as well so this is sometimes called yellow daisy, orange daisy, or golden daisy. I just think of it as my sunshine pattern. I have this same casserole in three sizes as well as a set of Cinderella mixing bowls in this pattern.
Serve as the perfect side to BBQ, Grilled Burgers, whatever your heart desires!
I just plop it in a bowl and dig in all on it’s own!
Are you planting a garden this year?
What do you plan on growing?
I’m always looking for ideas and I’d love to hear from you!
You can visit my post from last year on Raised Bed Gardens in 30 Minutes by clicking here.
Fast Italian Cucumber Salad Ingredients - 3-4 Roma tomatoes (or your choice, about 1-1/2 Cups chopped)
- 1 large red onion, diced
- 2 cucumbers, chopped
- 1 bottle Italian Dressing (or your choice)
Instructions - Place all vegetables in large bowl. Pour entire bottle of dressing over, stir. Cover and refrigerate for several hours before serving. Can be kept in the refrigerator for several days.
- 3-4 Roma tomatoes (or your choice, about 1-1/2 Cups chopped)
- 1 large red onion, diced
- 2 cucumbers, chopped
- 1 bottle Italian Dressing (or your choice)
- Place all vegetables in large bowl. Pour entire bottle of dressing over, stir. Cover and refrigerate for several hours before serving. Can be kept in the refrigerator for several days.
I’m an angel and if someone breaks my wings
I continue to fly on a broomstick…I’m very flexible.
Submitted by Iplayoutside the box. Submit your quote here.
I am in SC and my husband has planted Silver Queen corn, cucumbers, okra, green beens and of course tomatoes. I LOVE summer time when the veggies ripen. 🙂
ditto
Christy,
As usual right on target with this recipe! Spring has sprung!
I do this and use Greek vinagraette with mozzarella – also can add toasted homemade croutons for panzanella –
u rock! gotta go to the store – my topsy turvies are blooming but not producing yet! 🙂
Thanks for sharing – love your page & site!
OMG The added mozzarella sounds awesome to add to this salad!!!!!
I have no idea what a topsy-turvey is—please educate me.
Hi Elaine –
Topsy turvies are hanging tomato plant containers where the tomatos grow from the bottom being watered on the top – really works great for me – have 2 with 2 plants each and they grow here 6′ or so – lots of tomatos which we love! :)you can google them or get them here at home depot – even walgreens! This recipe is really gr8 stuff too! Love this site!
Have a gr8 day!
I have lettuce ready for picking right now. Carrots and cucumbers are coming up. One roma tomato. I have the worst time with tomatoes! I might try a squash plant, but every year the vine borers get mine. We made a raised bed last fall so that might thwart the ones in the soil, but I’m not going to bet on it!
I love this stuff! Especially when garden tomatoes and cucumbers come in! After eating the veggies, turn the bowl up and drink the leftover dressing! That’s bad, I know, but oh so good!
add some black olives they are the bomb in this salad
Christy,
This is also a familiar salad in Greece, Albania and Macedonia, I guess it coould be considered a Mediterranean salad. They put a diced white cheese in theirs which is somewhere between mozarella and feta. I think they get their vegetables to market faster than us, so everything tastes so much fresher there than what we can buy here. Thanks for the post. I live in town and do not garden.
That looks like a taste of spring. A bit too early here in Ohio for gardens. The only thing I might add is some bell peppe but I know your family won’t do peppers. I am not going to have a real garden , but I shall set out a half dozen tomato plants and probably a couple bell pepper plants and a zucchini or two. My two sisters and I each purchase a different variety of tomato plant in a six pack and then we split them so each gets two plants of three varieties, I wish the greenhouse did that. There is nothing better than a homegrown tomato. I pick them sun warmed, rub them off, and eat it on the spot. My neighbor laughs at me and says a dog might have peed on it , but I have been doing it all my 63 years and “I ain’t dead yet!” Just as a sidenote-I take the same veggie mix as you have listed and stir it into a carton of cottage cheese and my family loves that as a warm weather dish. Add some cold chicken and a roll and lunch is served in ten minutes.
We have this salad almost every nite in the summer. Nothing better than fresh tomatoes, fresh cukes and onions (I actually prefer the sweet onions such as Vidalia but never met an onion I didn’t like). I make my own vinagrette though…But this is a hit all summer long. We never tire of it! Goes great with whatever we grill..we grill almost every nite in the summer. We are planting our garden right now..and also including an obscene amount of tomatoes 😉 Our grandsons love to help Pa’Paw pick the garden every afternoon. Oh and I am so totally making this tonite for supper now! Thanks for the idea.