Simple Cucumber and Tomato Salad

Cucumbers and tomatoes are a classic pairing and can be found together in many Mediterranean and Middle Eastern dishes. This salad combines fresh summer vegetables with a refreshing lemon and parsley vinaigrette. The flavors in this salad are an excellent pairing for many summer meals. I suggest serving it with my Antelope Kofta or Mediterranean Bowls.

Cucumbers and tomatoes both contain a lot of water naturally. Thus, it's important to treat them correctly to make sure your salad isn't watery. Scooping out the seeds of the cucumber before dicing helps decrease the water content and leaves you with the most flavorful part of the cucumber. I also like to put the diced tomatoes in a mesh strainer and shake them over the sink to get rid of some of the juices. The seeds will naturally settle to the bottom of the strainer as well so you can scoop the diced tomatoes out without getting a bunch of seeds. Once the cucumbers and tomatoes have been prepared properly, gently toss them in the vinaigrette. Let the salad sit in the refrigerator for at least an hour before serving to let the flavors marry. I like to store salads in Pyrex Snapware because they can be used for prep, serving, and storing leftovers.