Summer Salad

Summer is all about simplicity, and the combination of ingredients in a very Southern summer salad leaves little room for improvement. My trip to the farmers' market at the Memphis Botanic Gardens this past Wednesday was proof of this perfection. I left with 5 kinds of tomatoes, peaches, eggplant, blackberries, and cucumbers. An idea was brewing, and once the bounty was set out on the counter, I knew something for sure: I wanted summer salad for dinner.

My grandma used to make this concoction out of tomatoes, cucumber, onions, vinegar, sugar, salt, and water. She kept it in a seafoam green Tupperware container in the fridge, and I always got in a ton of trouble since it became obvious that I was the one secretly picking out all of the tomatoes. Biee would ask where all of the tomatoes went, and I would shrug. (But I knew she knew.)

Think of summer salad like a quick pickle. Leave it overnight or store about a week. Strain the salad and serve it with a drizzle of olive oil. Summer perfection on a plate.

Summer Salad

(serves 4)

2 cucumbers (about 3 cups sliced)
2 medium tomatoes (about 2 cups sliced, quartered)

1 small white onion (thinly sliced, about a cup)
1 1/2 cups vinegar
2 1/2 cups water
1 tablespoon salt
1/4 cup sugar

Slice the cucumber any way you'd like. The easiest way is into "coins," but it's also fun to slice them longways using a vegetable peeler. Place the sliced cucumber, tomatoes, onion vinegar, water, salt and sugar in a two-quart food storage container. Stir and refrigerate for a day before serving.