This salad is in my current weekly rotation. Prep time is pretty quick and it’s easy to scale up/down based on number of people dinning. I serve this with blackened salmon cooked on the grill, which is also wicked simple and quick. The salad can be prepped ahead of time and stored in fridge, though I recommend letting it get to room temperature before serving, to allow the juices from the tomatoes and olives to warm up. It really doesn’t even need any dressing, especially if you let it sit for a few hours; the juices from the veggies and olives, with a touch of feta lend it enough flavor. That being said, I will list a few dressing options for you that various members of my family use.
This recipe is also all about color. I don’t use green peppers mostly because I think the olives and cucumbers add enough green. I also like the flavors of red, yellow and orange peppers better.
Ingredients
- 1 red pepper and 1 yellow or orange pepper, diced – if you are having more than 6 people use both
- 5-8 baby cucumbers, peeled and cut into ¼ slices
- 1 container of red cherry tomatoes & 1 container yellow cherry tomatoes, halved
- ¼-to-⅓ red onion, diced – use more or less depending upon how much you like onion
- handful of green olives, sliced – you can use the ones with the pimento, or without – use more or less depending upon how much you like olives
- feta cheese – I serve on the side and let folks add, or not add, what they like
- dressing options
- nothing
- hubby likes to pour a little of the olive juice over the salad when he makes it
- we all like to use Fanny Mencoboni‘s Lite Italian Dressing – they sell it in most major grocery stores . If you can’t find it, you can order a case of 6 directly from Menoboni’s for $35.
- [optional] arugula
- [optional] protein buddy, we pair this with grilled blackend salmon to make a complete dinner out of this delicious salad
Instructions
There is not much to this, just prep the ingredients listed above and put them in a large salad bowl.
Note: in the above picture, I was making this for just me and my hubby. I used ½ a red pepper and ½ a yellow pepper, 5 baby cucumbers, 3 slices of onion chopped, and a handful of olives. Paired with blackened salmon, and we have enough salad left over to make another meal (or lunch left-overs) out of it.