My Grandparents all Grew Huge Gardens and We Enjoyed their Bounty All Year Long. I Especially Remember My Grandmother's Tomato Salad. Here is the Recipe for It.
The French can have their balsamic vinaigrette. When the first tomatoes of the season ripen on the vine and the cucumbers have some young fruits ready for the picking and the parsley and mint has grown lush in the herb garden, only the best virgin olive oil and freshly squeezed lemon juice will do to dress this chopped tomato salad. It is one of my all time favorite ways to deal with the overflow of tomatoes and cucumbers that need to be picked in my garden about this time of year. It’s also one of the very first dishes I ever actually learned to make. Whenever I make it, it take me back to my grandmother’s kitchen and the huge garden that took up nearly all of her backyard. For my grandparents – on both sides of the family, not just the one from “The Old Country” – gardening was simply a way of life. They bought very little in the way of produce from the supermarket, serving the bounty fresh nearly three seasons of the year and canned or frozen during the winter months.
Some of my earliest memories, in fact, come from those gardens. I was a tough little “pest” to keep away from the plants. One day (so I’m told) my grandfather threatened to spank me if I ever set another foot in his tomatoes without him being there (I assume, for damage control…). Later, when he looked out the kitchen window, he saw me on my stomach, grabbing every tomato I could possible reach – with every inch of my body except my feet squarely in the bed!
This salad is the perfect side dish to pack up for a summer picnic, for it tastes terrific, whether it’s sitting next to a Bar-be-qued chicken or grilled fish on a plate; providing the topping for a gourmet hamburger – or simply ladled into a pocket pita with some lettuce and some fresh mozzarella cheese.
Ingredients:
PER SERVING
- 1 medium to large-sized vine ripened tomato
- ½ cup chopped cucumber
- 1/8 cup freshly chopped parsely
- 1/8 cup chopped fresh mint
- 1/8 – ¼ cup FINELY chopped red onion or scallions (to taste)
- salt and pepper to taste
Dressing:
- 1 part Virgin Olive Oil (a nice fruity, full-flavored variety)
- ½ part freshly squeezed Lemon Juice
Method:
- Mix together in a large bowl the tomatoes, cucumbers, onion, parsley and mint.
- Add the dressing and salt and pepper to taste.
- Cover and LET SIT for at least 2 hours (longer is desirable).
- Serve chilled – but not icy, as the colder it is, the less distinct the flavors will be.
