Bread Salad With Tomatoes And Lemon Cucumbers

By á-170456

Ingredients

• 3 lemon cucumbers or 1 English (hothouse)
• cucumber peeled, halved, seeded and diced
• coarse salt
• 1/2 pound stale coarse-textured white bread
• 1/2 cup water
• 5 ripe tomatoes - (1 1/2 to 2 lbs total) seeded, diced
• 1 red onion diced
• 4 tablespoons red wine vinegar - (to 5)
• 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• Salt to taste
• Freshly-ground black pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves - (loosely packed) torn small pieces

Details

Servings 4

Preparation

Step 1

Spread the diced cucumbers on paper towels and sprinkle with coarse salt. Let stand for 15 minutes. Place the cucumbers in a colander and rinse with cold water. Pat dry with paper towels.

Meanwhile, cut the bread into slices 1-inch thick and place in a shallow dish. Sprinkle the bread with the water and let stand for 2 minutes. Then carefully squeeze the bread until it is dry. Tear into rough 1-inch pieces and place on paper towels. Let stand for 10 minutes.

In a bowl, combine the cucumbers, tomatoes, onion and bread; toss gently.

In a large bowl, whisk together the vinegar and olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Add the bread mixture and the basil, mix gently and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or for up to 4 hours.

Transfer to a platter and serve chilled.

This recipe yields 4 to 6 servings.