We're swimming in cucumbers here with all this rain. Fresh tomato and cucumber salad from Abruzzee Italy. GARDEN grown ripe tomatoes cut about 1" pieces (not too damn small we're not making salsa here), the tomato pith removed, plenty of sea salt, fresh cracked black pepper (two turns). Peeled and cut up cucumbers, see note about size above, (one fork stab with TWO PIECES of each should be too much for any mouth except maybe Mike Koneski which would be just about right). Use the correct cucumber please...at the peak of just under done ripeness so the seeds aren't the size of your eyeball. Add onion powder (dash), granulated garlic (dash dash dash), one freshly broken basil leaf, (go to your cupboard now, find your bottle of dried basil and throw it the hell out), good extra virgin olive oil, don't get that crap that looks like a urine sample, you want martian pee, nice and green, preferably ITALIAN, a bit of vinegar (red wine only you want acidity not a vinegar salad). You want a ratio of about 1:5 vinegar to olive oil, maybe 1:4. You want enough juice to be wet, not too wet, not too dry, just wet and kinda drippy. If you can't figure it out you won't die but you'll know. If it's too dry it will suck, or it will be soupy which is better than dry. Add a few slivers (I mean slivers like 1/4 onion) of sweet or yellow onion (paper thin). Stay away from those damn red things, they suck by over powering with that oniony-ass flavor. They're good for Mexican food and even then I'm not sold. Everything complements everything, nothing overpowers. Toss all of this with your HANDS (it will taste like crap if you use utensils
). Taste. Adjust seasoning. Mix again if needed. Let it SIT ON YOUR COUNTER FOR AN HOUR AT ROOM TEMPERATURE. Trust me on this one. Get a big crusty loaf of French bread and go to town sopping up all that liquid in the bottom of the bowl. My mother could cook a gourmet Italian dinner from a dried out Kick-Eez and hers is the best but I'm getting close. People will think I'm crazy for the details. I am crazy. I once tried for a week to make a GREAT Lobster roll and realized some easy simple dishes have a secret. A light hand, FRESH ingredients, and good quality olive oil here. If it tastes off, it needs salt. Now I'm hungry.