Summer, like most seasons, is often defined by the food that we eat. I’m talking about sweet corn on the cob severed with most meals. Fired up grills that are slinging out burgers & hot dogs. And of course the bounty of fruit being turned into all sorts of cobblers & pies. But in my family, there’s one dish that we could never go the season without, my dad’s summer salad.
It’s a refreshing dish composed of cucumber, tomato, carrot, celery, and red onion all of which have been tossed in Italian dressing. Which I know might sound like an odd combination of ingredients, but trust me it’s great. You can prepare it all in minutes, it’s stays well in the fridge for days, and it’s tasty enough that you can serve it all by itself. So without further to do let’s get to making some summer salad.
Tips, Tricks & Suggestions
- While you can by Italian dressing from the store I suggest you make your own with our recipe. Though I would suggest that you swap out the extra virgin olive oil with canola oil or else it can clump up if it sits in the fridge for too long.
- I highly recommend that you let the summer salad sit for at least a couple of hours, or better yet overnight so that the flavor really sets in.
Dad’s Summer Salad Recipe
Total time: 10 minutes
Servings: 8 people
Ingredients
1 Red onion, quartered and cut into thin strips
3 Stocks of celery, finely diced
3 Large carrots, peeled and cut into half circles
3 medium tomatoes, cut into 1-inch sized chunks
1 Cucumber, peeled and cut into 1-inch sized chunks
1 Cup of Italian dressing
Instructions
- Cut up all of the vegetables and place them in a large bowl.
- Pour on the Italian dressing and toss the salad together.
- Let the summer salad sit in the fridge for a couple of hours before digging in. Enjoy!
Dad’s Summer Salad Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 Red onion quartered and cut into thin strips
- 3 Stocks of celery finely diced
- 3 Large carrots peeled and cut into half circles
- 3 medium tomatoes cut into 1-inch sized chunks
- 1 Cucumber peeled and cut into 1-inch sized chunks
- 1 Cup of Italian dressing
Instructions
- Cut up all of the vegetables and place them in a large bowl.
- Pour on the Italian dressing and toss the salad together.
- Let the summer salad sit in the fridge for a couple of hours before digging in. Enjoy!
Try out some other “summer salads” from some of our favorite blogs
15 Summer Salads from A Couple Cooks
37 Salad Recipes from Love & Lemons
