Cucumber and Tomato Salad!

This recipe is unbelievably simple to put together but packs the big "WOW" factor. I made it yesterday for our Parish Picnic. Afterwards I brought home the big bowl with six lonely cucumber slices floating in the bath of leftover dressing and one serving spoon that sunk to the bottom. I'll be returning that to the church kitchen this Sunday after Mass. Mind you, I used 6 large cucumbers and 10 medium vine rip tomatoes in it. There was so much food there and so much left over. It made my heart happy that my bowl, the sweets table and a few other casserole dishes were the only ones empty. After all, isn't that one of the reasons us cooks cook? We love it when others love our food!

Although I can take the credit for the parishioners loving this dish, I can't take credit for this recipe. It came from a lovely lady in Utah named Sophia. I've been reading her personal blog for well over two years. In addition to being a great Mom, she has some great recipes with this being one of them. She, like me, has recently started a cooking blog to share her recipes with all of us. Here is the link to this recipe. While you are there, look around and see what other goodness she cooks up!

Here is her recipe directly from her site with her permission. Thanks Sophia!

Cucumber & Tomato Salad

Ingredients:
cucumbers and tomatoes, chopped (I use at least 3 or 4 of each)
1 sliced and slightly chopped onion
1 cup sugar (I add an extra 1/4 cup)
1 cup cider vinegar
4 Tbsp. oil
1 Tbs. salt
pepper to taste (I use lots!)

Directions:
Mix the dressing and pour over the chopped veggies.
Chill and serve!

Okay, you know I usually don't make a recipe as it but this one I did. I will tell you that I used red/purple onion because it's my favorite onion and added a touch of pretty to the cucumbers and tomatoes. I also didn't add the extra 1/4 cup of sugar and it was yummy anyway. I would suggest you start with the cup and then if you want it sweeter, then add more. Remember, you can always add but can't take away from a recipe once you've dumped it in.

Also. Since there are only three of us in my family, I've made it with 1 cucumber, 1 tomato and a cubanelle pepper from my Dad's garden. I cut the recipe by 4 when I did this or we would have been drinking the dressing. When I did this, I also substituted 4 packets of Splenda sweetener instead of the sugar to fit into my healthier eating habits these days. Although it wasn't as good as the sugar one, it was still good an we had no trouble eating the whole bowl!

Thank you for visiting my kitchen!