Tomato Salad Recipe

With summer here cooking seems to get a little easier, especially since my husband takes over!  We tend to grill out quite a bit during the summer, this year will be a little more fun with our swanky new grill.  Yes, that was an unexpected expense that we had to fork out when our poor Weber took a digger when I moved it the day before we had 20 people coming for a cook out.  Who knew that a 15 year old grills legs would fall off if moved from it's spot of honor for the last few years?  If I didn't know better I would have thought my husband sabotaged it just to get the new grill :)

Since our meat tends to be simpler (grilled burgers, brats, etc) I tend to make the sides simpler also.  One of our favorite sides are:

Tomato Salad
Fresh tomatoes - chopped to bit size
Cucumber - sliced
Onion - small amount chopped
Italian seasoning (herbs, not the packet)
Salt/Pepper
Dash of oil (vegetable, canola, olive - whatever your preference)

In a bowl mix together the fresh vegetables in whatever amount you prefer.  I'm not a big cucumber fan so I tend to put more tomatoes and less cucumbers but it's up to your personal preference.  I would caution about to much onion as that could overpower it a bit.

Sprinkle on Italian seasoning to taste, add a dash of salt/pepper and top with a little of the oil.  How much oil would depend upon how many vegetables you use.  If I'm using about 3 - 4 tomatoes I'll use about 1 Tablespoon or less of oil.  You want to be careful about using to much oil as you don't want the dish to taste oily. 

It's best to give this dish a little bit of time to sit so the flavors come together.  I would not recommend making it the day before a party, it doesn't keep for more than a day or so.

Do you have a tomato salad recipe you'd like to share?