Grandma Felicia’s Heirloom Tomato & Cucumber Salad

 

 

My grandparents had lush gardens that yielded an abundant amount of sweet vine ripened fruits and vegetables, including several varieties of tomatoes each year. Growing up Grandma Felicia’s Heirloom Tomato & Cucumber Salad made its way onto the table countless times, throughout the summer months. She cleverly paired this simplistic side salad with her famous unconventional sweet non acidic dressing. Her “Sweet Olive Oil Dressing”, perfectly balanced the flavors of the vine ripened Heirloom tomatoes, crisp cucumber and pungent red onion and oregano.  Make sure you serve the salad with a crusty wedge of Italian bread, so you can use the wedge of crusty bread to dip in the extra salad dressing left behind in the plate…we Sicilians call this act of dipping “Abbagnari” …Trust me on this one “a piece of Italian Bread soaked in this sweet dressing is Incredibly Delicious!  

 

 This morning I gave a live “Farm to Table” cooking demonstration at Applenton Farm highlighting Grandma Felicia’s Heirloom Tomato & Cucumber Salad Recipe

For Step-by-Step Recipe and photos click see more

Farm Fresh Heirloom Tomato & Cucumber Salad

Ingredients

3-4 large ripe Heirloom Tomatoes; cut into 1 inch pieces, ( any ripe tomato can be substituted)

2 large cucumber; cut into 1 inch pieces

1 large red onion; thinly sliced

1 tablespoon “Wild Italian Dried Oregano” or 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh oregano leaves only

Grandma Felicia’s Famous “Sweet Olive Oil Dressing”

Ingredients

3/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup warm water

2 tablespoon superfine sugar (regular granulated sugar can be substituted)

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Step-by-Step

1  combine tomatoes cucumbers and onion in serving bowl; toss

2  sprinkle oregano over top

3 combine olive oil, water, sugar, salt, and pepper in mason jar; fix lid and ring tightly on jar; shake vigorously until sugar is dissolved and dressing comes together

4  pour dressing over salad mixture; toss; cover with plastic wrap; rest at room temperature 15-20 minutes before serving (tossing often during this time)

 

 

* Note~ Wild Italian Dried Oregano can be purchased at J. Pace & Son for store locations visit http://jpaceandson.com/