Tomato Salad Three Ways

I love tomatoes and cucumbers, and I'm so excited when they start showing up at the farmers market. For the last several weeks, I have made a cucumber/tomato salad as soon as I've gotten home. I like to get a mix of tomatoes - some red, some green, some yellow - so that you get a good mix of acidity and sweetness when you mix the tomatoes together.

This week, I realized I needed to add some protein because I was going to swim 2 miles later that afternoon, so I mixed up the recipe and made a nicoise-like salad.

Today, I used took the base of the salad (no tuna this time) and added bread cubes from my leftover rosemary ciabatta loaf and cannellini beanas . Instant panzanella (that's bread salad for you and me).

I've decided that cucumber/tomato salad is the perfect summer food and I'm going to continue this trend. I'll let you know if I add anything interesting/post-worthy.

Delicious food doesn't have to be hard.

Tomato and Cucumber Salad
Chop some tomatoes (no, I do not have a quantity, make as much as you want)
Skin and chop some cucumbers
Slice some onion - I like purple or yellow sweet
Olive oil
Red wine vinegar
Salt
Pepper
Basil - fresh chopped

Mix the tomatoes, cucumbers and onion together.

Mix some olive oil (about 1/4 cup), 3-4 tablespoons of red wine vinegar, salt and pepper in a bowl with a whisk or fork so you get a nice vinaigrette. Adjust the seasoning as necessary.

Pour the dressing over the tomato mixture and sprinkle with the basil. Let sit for 30 minutes or so.

Tuna variation: Add one can drained tuna and black pitted olives.

Panzanella variation: Add cannellini beans to the tomato mixture and let sit. Cube some crusty bread (baguette, ciabatta, etc.) and combine with tomato mixture just before serving.