Food Friday: Heirloom Tomato Salad with Lemon Cucumbers

Heirloom tomatoes are one of my absolute favorite things about summer. There are so many kinds, colors, shapes and flavors! Some are purple, or orange, or multi-colored... some even have stripes! I don't know why this fascinates me, but I simply cannot walk by a stand with heirloom tomatoes and not buy some. I think part of the reason is that I just love colorful salads, and how often do you have an excuse to put something purple in your salad??



So of course when I saw these, I just had to buy them. I intended to make a tomato & mozzarella salad, but then I remembered that I had a ton of lemon cucumbers to use, too. I have made tomato & mozzarella salad (its proper name is Insalata Caprese for those of you who want to sound gourmet) lots of times before, and it suddenly occurred to me that cucumbers (lemon cucumbers, especially) would be an interesting addition to the recipe.

So, I sliced it all up (actually Justyn sliced it all up) and tossed it with some olive oil and freshly chopped basil, and there you have it! A perfect summer salad. One quick note: I think technically you're supposed slice your tomatoes, cheese, etc. into round slices about 1/4 inch thick, arrange prettily onto a plate and drizzle with olive oil, etc. But, we just chopped ours into chunks and tossed it all together. Do what you like... there are no rules.

Heirloom Tomato Salad with Lemon Cucumbers

3-4 medium to large heirloom tomatoes, very ripe

2 lemon cucumbers (or regular would work here, too)

fresh mozzarella (you can buy it in one big chunk or little 1 inch balls)

1/4 cup freshly chopped basil

1-2 tablespoons olive oil

sea salt & freshly ground pepper to taste

Chop the tomatoes and cucumber and toss into a bowl. Drain any liquid that may accumulate in the bottom of the bowl. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle basil into the mixture. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Toss and enjoy!