- Laura
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)
