Summer Tomato & Cucumber Salad

Last night I thought I had it all figured out about what I was going to post for today... I have this wonderful chicken salad that one of my residents begged her daughter to share with me (who I in turn share it with every time I make it), and I just made a fresh batch of it so that I could take pictures. I bought some fresh croissants from the bakery. Everything was planned out. And then today happened!
Like the crazy person I am, I agreed to work for one of the girls this morning. But, it was only a four-hour shift, so it wasn't so bad... At 10:30, I finished that shift and started walking home when I came across someone setting up a garden-fresh produce stand on the route I take! There were baskets and baskets of fresh, red, ripe tomatoes... Baskets of fresh zucchini... Fresh cucumbers (the great farm fresh kind that aren't covered in wax)... Watermelons... And all kinds of other stuff that I know I'm missing! Admittedly, the cucumbers and tomatoes caught my eye and grabbed my attention right away, so I didn't really have eyes for much of anything else today. The only thing stopping me from buying a whole crap-ton of vegetables right then and there was that I only had $7 in my pocket... So, I settled for 2 cucumbers, at a lovely price of 2 for $1, and 3 very large tomatoes, at $2 a pound.
I didn't even know what I was going to do with my treasures right away - there are so many things I want to make with the fresh produce that I was having a hard time picking just one! Should I make some yummy BLTs?! With a Creamy Cucumber Salad? That sounded wonderful! But, as delicious as that sounds, there is ONE thing that sounded even better, especially because I haven't had it since last year - Tomato and Cucumber Salad!! It's so easy, yet so delicious! My only regret... It was so good that I ate it all in one afternoon/evening and now I have none left until I go back and get some more veggies! :'( Maybe I should just triple the recipe... ;-P
This is one of those recipes I have in my arsenal which was inspired by something else. I used to work at a nursing home that made a very similar salad, and I liked it so much that I decided to try making it myself. I might be a little biased, but I think mine tastes much better! Hmmmmmm... Perhaps because I am so awesome?! :-P Most likely, I think it's because I only make it in the summertime, when fresh produce is at its peak and readily available. If you've never had a real garden-fresh tomato, you NEED to go find your local farmer's market and grab yourself some real tomatoes! I can't even describe how much better the flavor is compared to what you buy in the store... They are just AWESOME!!


Look at these! You can just SEE how much better they're going to taste!!



3 large, ripe tomatoes
1 large or 2 small cucumbers
1/2 medium purple onion
2 Tbsp. dried parsley (or use fresh if you have it)
Zesty Italian salad dressing

Core the tomatoes, chop into large chunks, and place in a medium-sized bowl. Peel the cucumbers and cut them lengthwise into quarters; slice to medium thickness and place in the bowl with the tomatoes. Dice the onion and add that to the bowl. Sprinkle dried parsley on top of everything, crushing a little bit to help release the flavors of the herb. Pour Italian dressing over everything until it makes a nice sauce for the vegetables to bathe in (I used approximately 3/4 of a bottle of dressing) and stir to combine. Let the salad rest for at least an hour, to marry the flavors, before serving.

Oven Roasted Ratatouille

So, this is one of those recipes that I have NO idea exactly where I found it... I know I had found it online somewhere, and had just happened to stumble across it while looking for something else, but I don't remember exactly where it was.
In any case, I was intrigued by the recipe and typed it up into a Microsoft Word document and then saved it onto my "Cookbook" flash drive. (Yes, I am THAT kind of fruitcake! All of the recipes I find and like or am intrigued by, I type into a Word document and save onto this little flash drive which I titled "Cookbook". I have the folders - 25, to be exact - and subfolders on this flash drive set up so that I can easily access it and find whatever I might want, from beverages to vegetables. I even have a Twilight-Themed Party folder, which includes recipes for a party I am helping to plan with some friends for when the next movie in the Twilight series, Breaking Dawn, comes out in theaters! And, yes, the recipes I test for that will appear on my blog. :-) )

So, anyways, back to the ratatouille!

I had never had the stuff before, but I was more than willing to give it a try... Especially when it included one of my favorite herbs - basil! Not to mention, it is loaded with vegetables, making it extra healthy. Basically, all ratatouille recipes are made up entirely of vegetables which are cooked or roasted in some way, shape, or form. I've come across recipes for ratatouille previously which consisted of a number of ways to prepare the dish, including grilling and cooking on the stove top, but they didn't really grab my attention because they were essentially just recipes of a bunch of cooked vegetables thrown together in a dish and served. Now, c'mon, that's not really a recipe! Well, not in my opinion anyways...
Then, I found this recipe! Every time I make this dish, it turns out delicious; and I'm not one for exact measurements when cooking, so it turns out a little bit different every time. The best thing about ratatouille is that it's so versatile - you can eat a whole plate of it with some crusty French bread as a meal in itself, you can serve it as a side dish, and even use it in sandwiches. And while you CAN prepare this and freeze it for later, I would suggest that you only use the thawed stuff in sandwiches because all of the vegetables tend to get really soft when thawed out and heated up.

1 pan of already roasted ratatouille next to one waiting to be roasted.

The completely finished product!

1 medium Italian eggplant or several Asian
2 lb. ripe Roma tomatoes
¼ c. red wine
2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
2 medium green or yellow zucchini
1 red bell pepper
1 yellow bell pepper
1 large red onion
6 garlic cloves, minced
Olive oil
1 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. coriander seeds, crushed
Salt and pepper to taste

Chop the eggplant into 2½ - 3 cm. chunks and put all of them into a colander. Salt well, if necessary, and then place several paper towels on top of the vegetable. Place the colander in a sink basin or in a bowl and then put a weight on top of the vegetable to draw out the bitter juices and let sit for about 30 minutes. (This step of salting is really only necessary sometimes for the Italian eggplants.)
Meanwhile, slice the tomatoes in half and squeeze out the pulp and seeds before cutting them into chunks. Put the chunks into a bowl, add salt, pepper and then the wine and vinegar. Let the tomatoes macerate as you set the oven temp to 450°, then go about chopping the zucchini and bell peppers into 2½ - 3 cm. pieces and cut the onions into wedges.
In one or more roasting pans (for this quantity, two 9 x 13 pans will work splendidly - and I used disposable pans so that I wouldn't have to scrub my good pans afterwards) coat the insides with olive oil and a little salt and pepper. Take the weight off the eggplant, discard the bitter water, rinse, and tumble the vegetable into the pans, then follow with the tomatoes (juices and all) and the rest of the vegetables and garlic. Drizzle with olive oil, and then sprinkle the spices on top and mix all the vegetables together by hand. I usually add another restrained glug of olive oil on top prior to popping the tins into the oven. Bake for an hour or until the veggies are tender and their edges are slightly singed.