Cucumber Tomato Summer Salad

Cucumber Tomato Summer Salad is tangy, sweet and summertime fresh. Made with fresh garden vegetables, it’s perfect for any occasion.

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This is my take on the classic cucumber and onion salad. I had to change it up because my husband, Vince and one of my boys, Greg, are not cucumber lovers so I was able to hide them in this recipe. I also had an abundance of heirloom tomatoes that I needed to use. This salad turned out so good, I’m not sure I’ll ever make just cucumber and onions again. I added thinly sliced fennel and celery that gave it a really bright fresh pop of flavor.

What are Heirloom Tomatoes?

Heirloom tomatoes are just what they sound like…tomato seeds that have been passed down from generation to genteration. Heirloom tomatoes comes in several different colors – yellow, green, purple and  taste sweeter than other tomatoes. I think that the darker purple-red varitety are a little bit more hearty in their flavor while the yellow and green taste a bit more sweet. Heirloom tomatoes don’t last as long as you general tomoatoe variety so make sure you use them shortly after buying them. They also tend to be a bit more expensive and that’s because of their short shelf life and the fact that they are a less sturdy variety of tomato and need to be handled more carefully.

If you’ve been around my blog or social media much, you’ll notice I use a lot of Ball canning jars for food preparation and storing. Canning jars are perfect for this salad. You can use a large jar or make individual jars which are perfect for a picnic or taking to work for lunch.

What else do I use my jars for?

You can say I’m a bit obsessed with canning jars and I use them for everything:

1. To store nuts – when I buy nuts, I immediately transfer them to a large jar with a tight lid and I store them in my refrigerator. They stay fresh longer in the refrigerator and I find I use them more often becasue they are right there ready for me when I open the refrigerator door.
2. To store shredded coconut – we love sweetened shredded coconut and use it in a lot of savory dishes. Just like the nuts, I store my coconut in a jar with a tight lid in the refriderator…it sure beats try to seal and store a bag of coconut in the refrigerator.
3. To make single serve desserts, overnight oatmeal, yogurt parfaits…the self-serve ideas are endless!
4. To mix salad dressing – I don’t usually buy salad dressing because they are so easy to make. When I am making a salad dressing, I put all the ingreadients into a jar with a tigh lid, shake it all up and store it in the refrigerator. I do the same for instant pudding – just add the pudding and the milk, shake it up and put it in the refrigerator.

If you like this recipe with tomatoes, you also like these:

1. Roasted Tomato Ricotta Crostinis.
2. Honey Thyme Grilled Apricots
3. Buttermilk Salad Dressing
4. Shrimp and Chorizo Pasta

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