Italian Peasant Food : Pseudo-Cucumber Salad
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Italian Peasant Food:
Pseudo-Cucumber Salad
One thing I always remember eating at supper time, especially when garden vegetables were in season, was some sort of salad. You just can't beat the flavor of a fresh, tasty garden salad, and the source of absorbable vitamins and minerals is second to none.
One of my favorites is the Cucumber Salad. This salad contains fruit and vegetables, but lacks lettuce, and as the name implies, the main component is none other than the cucumber. I call this ont the pseudo-cucumber salad, because traditionally, it only contains cucumber, tomatoes, and the red onion.
This is a great salad to accompany any dish, or serves as a meal all to itself, especially on hot summer nights. It takes about 10-15 minutes to prepare, and costs next to nothing if you grow most of the ingredients.
The Stuff Needed:
- 1 or 2 medium cucumbers
- A couple of vine ripened tomatoes (vine ripened are the best, and peasants always have these beauties growing someplace in the yard, as well as most of the other ingredients aforementioned)
- 1 medium to large red onion
- 1 green bell pepper
- A carrot
- 1 or 2 stalks of celery
- A couple of scallions
- A clove or 2 of garlic (or 3, or 4...etc)
- 1/4- cup Olive Oil (EVOO as Rachael Ray calls it)
- A few TBS balsamic vinegar
- Salt & pepper
- 1 TBS oregano
- 1TBS basil
The Prep:
Nothing special here. Simply wash of the fruits and veggies well under cold H2O. You may elect to peal the cuces and the carrots, but thats not for me. I almost always leave the skins on my fruits and veggies, as this is where most of the vitamins reside. and being a peasant, I'd rather not have to purchase vitamins from the druggist.
- Slice the cucumbers and carrots into 1/8-3/16 inch slices (you can also cut the cucumbers into spears if you prefer)
- Slice the celery into 1/4 inch slices
- Cut the tomatoes into 1-1/2 in cubes
- Cut the peppers into 1 inch squares, or however you like them (please do not use a tape measure or anything of that sort to measure the cuts of this stuff)
- Chop up the scallion and use at least 2/3 of the stalk (of course cut off the root)
- Cut the onion into slivers
- Toss it all into a bowl and dump in the oil, then toss
- Add salt and pepper to taste (don't be chincey on the salt and pepper either)
- Add the oregano and the basil, then toss again.
- Sprinkle the vinegar evenly over the top
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Enjoy!
