Tomato and Cucumber Salad

Growing up in the Midwest, you probably ate things like cucumber & tomato or cucumber & onion salad for dinner during the summer. In fact, at my house we often ate cucumber & onion salad with fresh steamed corn and sliced tomatoes with cottage cheese for a light summertime dinner. My mom really knew her stuff. Occasionally she would make creamed green beans too, one of dad’s favorites. Oh the memories. A few nights ago I was making sloppy Jose's (a Mexican version of sloppy Joe's - recipe coming soon!) for dinner and I was trying to think of a quick, easy, low-cal side dish when tomato & cucumber salad came to mind. As I alluded to earlier, there are many versions of this simple salad: it can be made with tomato & cucumber (like I did here) or just cucumber & onion (my mom used white onion). Then the dressing choices: for tang you can use virtually any vinegar you have on hand, fresh lemon juice, or any oil (I'm pretty sure my mom used Wesson oil - it was 1985, people!) and any onion will do! I always have green onions on hand so I used those, but white, red, or yellow would all work fine! I think my mom even added a little bit of sugar to the mix to counteract the tang of the vinegar, but I enjoy the tang so I left the sugar out. You should also feel free to add any fresh herbs you might have on hand. Basil, cilantro, tarragon, or mint would all be good choices here. The point is, if you grew up eating a variation of this salad like I did, this recipe will take you right back to the days of playing outside all day, dirty feet and big wheels. Now those were the days.

Tomato and Cucumber Salad 
 
1 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded and thinly sliced
6 roma tomatoes, diced
3 green onions, thinly sliced
2 T. white vinegar
2 T. olive oil
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl then refrigerate for at least an hour to allow the flavors to meld. Serve cold or at room temperature.

4 servings (129 calories each serving) according to my calculator on loseit.com