Tomato basil summer salad

We are having a crazy heat wave here in Toronto so I'm on quite the cold food kick. As much as I love a good lettuce based salad, I was really in need of something new to switch things up. This tomato basil salad was the perfect thing, the tomato and cucumber make it super refreshing and the basil/goat cheese combination is so flavourful.

This recipe is also my go to salad whenever I go to a bbq or get together in the summer. It's super easy to make, always a crowd pleaser and the ingredients aren't delicate so they travel well. The only problem, I never know what to call it when people ask. It's kind of an italian take on a greek salad, but that usually gets me more confused looks so I stick with tomato basil salad. Although sometimes I feel that name is underselling this salad because it's so much more. Honestly, if anyone has any recommendations, please let me know!

This is a great recipe to prepare ahead for the week and eat for lunch. I love adding some cold grilled chicken on top or enjoying on the side. If you are making this ahead of time, I recommend keeping the dressing, cheese and diced tomato/cucumber separate and just quickly assembling when you're ready to eat.

Ingredients:

• 2 pints cherry tomatoes

• 2 cucumbers

• 120g goats cheese (I would estimate this is around 1/3 cup)

• 2 tbsp olive oil

• 2 tbsp white wine vinegar

• 1/2 tsp salt (I usually add a bit more at the end to taste)

• 1/4 tsp pepper

• 2 tbsp fresh basil chopped (I really don't measure this, honestly more is always better)

Directions:

• Half the cherry tomatoes and dice cucumber and add to a large bowl

• Mix the seasoning, olive oil and vinegar to make a dressing

• Add dressing to the tomatoes and cucumbers and toss to coat, be gentle so you don't squish the tomatoes

• Crumble the goats cheese on top at the end and give a very very light toss, if you add the cheese too early it will just squish everywhere and you won't have nice crumbles

• Season to taste will extra salt and pepper at the end

Macros: 1 serving (recipe makes 4), 8p/11c/15f (3.5g fibre)