It was late summer in northern Wisconsin and the farmers market was loaded with lovely green peppers, cucumbers and tomatoes. They would be a wonderful addition to a green salad, I thought, so I bought two of each and stopped to pick up the lettuce at the local supermarket. Alas, there was no lettuce to be had, but there were some beautiful red onions. Simple salad was born.
INGREDIENTS:
1 green pepper
1 red onion
1 cucumber
1 medium or 2 smaller tomatoes
1/2 cup pitted ripe olives
Ranch dressing
2 or three T Parmesan cheese.
Salt and pepper to taste
PROCEDURE:
Wash the vegetables thoroughly. Remove the top, seeds and membranes from the pepper. Cut the top and root off the onion and remove the outer skin. Peel the cucumber and cut the stem off the tomato. Chop the pepper and onion into pieces about 3/4 inch on each side. Cut the cucumber into quarters and remove seeds if you wish. Chop the quarters into pieces about 3/4 inch long. Do the same with the tomato. Slice the olives.
Toss the vegetables with enough ranch dressing to coat them lightly. Add the grated Parmesan cheese with about 1/4 teaspoon salt and some freshly ground black pepper. Mix well and adjust the seasoning,, adding a little more dressing or cheese if necessary.
Not only is this a really simple salad, but you can make it ahead of time and even enjoy it the next day as a tasty leftover. If you use medium-sized vegetables, the recipe will serve six generously.
Courage in the Kitchen 