This fresh and light summer salad is dedicated to my friend, Peggy. Thanks to her CSA (community-shared-agriculture), I had about five cucumbers and six large tomatoes sitting in my refrigerator last week! Making a boring green salad would’ve been such a waste given the freshness of the cucumbers and tomatoes. Then I remembered watching an episode of 30 Minute Meals where Rachael Ray made this yummy looking salad. It was so quick and easy to make. I already had all the ingredients, but added a few spices to kick things up a bit. Even if you don’t like raw onions, please don’t omit them from the recipe. They lend such a nice flavor to the dish that it would be very bland and boring without them! Red onions are milder than yellow onions, and get even milder because of the vinegar in the salad. You can reduce the quantity of onions in the recipe if you’re still skeptical ;).

Recipe
Yield: 2 servings

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 small red onion, peeled and thinly sliced
3 tbsp. red wine vinegar
1 large seedless cucumber, halved lengthwise and cut into 1/4-inch thick slices
1 large tomato, seeded and cut into small pieces
2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1/4 tsp. dried oregano
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

DIRECTIONS:
1. Place onion and vinegar in a salad bowl. Give a quick toss and let stand for about 10 minutes while you prepare the cucumber and tomato.
2. Add cucumber, tomato, oil, and oregano to the onion. Season with salt and pepper. Toss everything together and let stand for about 15 to 20 minutes.
3. Toss the salad again before serving.