Cucumbers and sweet onions, marinated in a slightly sweetened white wine and rice vinegar dressing with mustard seeds and tossed with fresh tomatoes.
Marinated Cucumber and Tomato Salad
- Seeing as it's summer
- That it's hotter than hot right now, and
- I'm certainly getting my fill of all the cooling foods I can right now
This version was inspired by one that I ran across in Paula Deen's At the Southern Table cookbook. It was a little bit different from the typical cucumber and tomato salad and interesting enough that it had me curious, so I thought I'd give it a try... with my own adaptations, of course!
Unlike many vinegar-based southern-style cucumber and tomato salads, this version is another one that is more tart than sweet, but rather than using the typical white or cider vinegar, this one used white wine and rice vinegar.
I happened to have both of those in my pantry, so why not give it a try?
Initially her ratio of sweet to sour was still too tart for me though, so I played around a bit with it and found a ratio that I preferred, one that was still somewhat tart, but less so. I've also, as usual, strayed pretty far away from her version, including some of my own methodology I use with cucumber salads.
Just a quick reminder.... this is a blog, not just a "recipe site," and yes, there is a difference! I want to first thank all of you who have supported my work over the years, but if you aren't interested in the chit chat, info, photos, tips and such in a post, as always, you'll find the complete recipe text with measurements and instructions, as well as a printable document, a little bit further down the page. Just swipe or scroll down to the bottom of the post!Here's how to make this Marinated Cucumber and Tomato Salad.
For the dressing you'll need, rice vinegar and white wine vinegar. I'm using a white wine vinegar from Italy that I picked up from my local grocery store. It has a slight tinted color to it. Add a little granulated sugar, mostly to your own personal tastes really, and some mustard seed.
For the salad, you'll need fresh tomatoes, sweet onion - Vidalia when in season - and cucumbers. For seasonings, black pepper and some crushed red pepper flakes, if you like. They do add a nice little bump of heat - just don't overdo it!
Whisk together both of the vinegars, sugar and mustard seed.
Continue whisking occasionally until all of the sugar has dissolved. Taste and adjust for sweetness.
Meanwhile, add one layer of sliced cucumbers to a colander over a plate. Sprinkle with 1/3 of the salt. This step helps to draw out some of the extra moisture from the cucumbers, as well as infuse some of the salt into them.
Repeat in two more layers. Let rest at room temperature 30 minutes; drain off accumulated water from the plate, but do not rinse the cucumbers.
Add the cucumbers and onions to a lidded storage bowl.
Pour the dressing over the top and toss.
Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour or up to overnight, stirring several times if possible.
When ready to serve, chop the tomatoes.
Add them and the accumulated juices (that's flavor y'all!) to the cucumbers.
Season with black pepper and red pepper flakes, if using, toss, taste and adjust seasonings. Use a slotted spoon to serve.
For more of my favorite cucumber and tomato salads, check out the collection on my Pinterest page!
Unable to view the printable below on your device? Tap/click here.
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