What do a cucumber, a pile of tomatoes, and cilantro have in common? They all arrived with my weekly box of veggies! One of my favorite ways to eat these summertime vegetables is in a cool, crisp Cucumber Tomato Summer Salad.
Chopped salads like these are such an easy way to relish summer. They’re so versatile. Honestly, that’s one of my favorite things about getting a weekly box of vegetables. I can just about take any combination of summer vegetables, chop them up, then throw them together in a pretty bowl and call it a salad. But the thing that sets this Cucumber Tomato Summer Salad apart? The mayonnaise.
My whole life I’ve been a slave to olive oil dressings in any cucumber salad. Cucumber and onions? Drizzle it in olive oil! Cucumber and tomatoes? Reach for the olive oil! Cucumber and diced sweet peppers? Olive oil! Cucumber and grapes? Olive oil.
Then a few weeks ago my kids wanted something different for lunch. So, instead of reaching for olive oil, I reached for mayonnaise. I couldn’t have been more surprised. What I thought would be a one time indulgence to pacify children turned into one of my new favorite ways to do a chopped salad.
Cucumber Tomato Summer Salad
The Players
- 1 medium cucumber, diced
- 2 medium tomatoes, diced
- 1 small bunch of cilantro, chopped
- 1 tbsp mayonnaise (you can do homemade, but I highly recommend using this mayonnaise for a perfect salad)
- 1 small handful raisins (optional)
The How-To
Mix all ingredients in a bowl and serve. It doesn’t get any easier than this. And my kids? They gobbled every last bit of this Cucumber Tomato Summer Salad up and asked for seconds!
(photo by sparktography)
Very similar to Salad Shirazi, a Persian/Iranian cucumber-tomato salad, which also uses a bit of minced onion (I prefer red onion). I make mine sometimes with sour cream instead of mayo, or half-and-half with the mayo, although it can be done without anything creamy, just some lemon juice and salt to taste. Also easy enough for kids to help with!
I just made this oh it’s so wonderful!
I just made this oh it’s so wonderful!
Anton Lamar — Glad you enjoyed it!
I’ll bet Greek yogurt would be lovely, too!
I made that same cucumber salad it was awesome!
I’ll be trying this!
i totally was tired of the olive oil base for ‘all’ of salads and love using mayonaise. Reminds me of the variety of mayonaise based salads that my grandmother used to make when i was a child
looks simple and divine. i need to order some of that mayo!