Name: Simple Tomato Cucumber Salad
Prep time: 15 min
Total time: 15 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Salad
Ingredients: 2-3 cups of Baby Arugula, washed, rinsed and dried; 1 medium Red Onion; 2-3 Lemons; Handful of Cherry, Grape and Kumato tomatoes; 1/2 an English Cucumber; 1 cup Black Olives; 1 block of Feta Cheese; 1 tsp Ground Oregano; 1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil; Crushed Red Pepper, optional

This Simple Tomato Cucumber Salad is anything but simple in the flavor department…your tastebuds will love every tangy salty bite!

This simple tomato cucumber salad is basically a version of a traditional greek salad. Greek salads showcase my fave flavor profiles. Bright, salty and tangy 🙂 Out of all the salads I make, and there are many.. this one has to be in my top 2. I keep tomatoes in my kitchen just so I can make this salad.. no lie. It’s that good, plus it’s so simple to make.

closeup of salad of Tomatoes, cucumbers, feta cheese, red onions and black olives on a bed of greens

Mise En Place

Heres what we need in place in order to make this simple tomato cucumber salad.

Equipment:

Cutting Board
Chefs Knife
Small bowl to hold the sliced onions and make dressing in
Serving dish

Ingredients:

Baby Arugula – slightly peppery and compliments this salad perfectly
Red Onions – mild and sweet and really pretty when pickled 😉
Tomatoes – You can get any variety of tomato, just buy more than one. It’s interesting and pleasing to the eye to have different varieties cut in different ways. Kumato tomatoes are brown in color and very flavorful.
English Cucumber – also known as seedless cucumbers. They’re long and thin and not really seedless but it does have less seeds than regular ones.
Black Olives – have a mild flavor and soft texture. Sub any olive you prefer. Ive made this salad with Spanish olives too.
Feta Cheese – white cheese made from sheep or goat milk. It’s salty and tangy.
Oregano – I use Dominican oregano but sub in any dried oregano you have. oregano is earthy with a twinge of citrus.
Lemons – used in this recipe to pickle the onions and make the dressing
Extra Virgin Olive Oil – Use your good oil and taste to make sure it’s not rancid. Rancid oil tastes bitter.
Kosher Salt and Freshly Cracked Black Pepper

salad of Tomatoes, cucumbers, feta cheese, red onions and black olives on a bed of greens

Let’s make this Simple Tomato Cucumber Salad!

This recipe is all prep work.. my fave! Make sure all the ingredients are washed and dried and ready to go. Cutting board should be secured on the countertop. A damp paper towel underneath the board does the trick.

Arrange the arugula on a pretty platter. Slice the onions first, drop them into a small bowl and pickle them with the lemon juice. That same juice will be used to make the dressing. Cut the tomatoes. Large ones into wedges, small ones in half and the really small ones you can leave whole. I just think the salad is more pretty this way and I like to eat pretty things 🙂 Cut the cucumbers into half moons and arrange on top of the salad. Now this is important.. Season your veggies now, just a dash of salt will do. Tomatoes love salt so don’t wait till the end to season this. Add the olives and Lastly the Feta. Cut the feta into cubes or crumble over the salad. Now the onions go on top, reserve the lemon juice.. we need that.

To the reserved lemon juice, add the oregano plus a little more lemon juice if you need it. We need about a 1/4 cup of juice. Whisk in your extra virgin olive oil and Season to taste with salt and pepper. The dressing is seasoned well when it tastes good to you 😉 Pour as much dressing as you want over the salad. For heat sprinkle some crushed red pepper on top. Serve it along side my juicy pork chops for a quick and simple delicious dinner.

closeup of a salad with Tomatoes, cucumbers, feta cheese, red onions and black olives on a bed of greens

Not making it today? Prep it.

The only prep you can do here is to make sure that your veggies are properly washed and dried soon after buying them. It doesn’t seem like much but every little bit helps.

Arugula – Buy it pre-washed but take it out of the package to store it. Line a ziplock bag with paper towels and transfer the arugula to it. Store in the fridge for about 2 weeks.
Tomatoes – Wash in 3 parts water, 1 part distilled white vinegar. Then rinse with cold water and dry completely. When dry, transfer to bowl and store on your countertop. Use within 3-5 days of washing.
Cucumbers – Wash in 3 parts water, 1 part distilled white vinegar. Then rinse with cold water and dry completely . Can be stored in the crisper drawer in the fridge.
Lemons – Wash in 3 parts water, 1 part distilled white vinegar. Then rinse with cold water and dry completely. Can be stored on the counter too.

*use the same solution for the produce. a good 5 minute soak is all you need.