tomato, cucumber and sweet onion salad with cumin salt

By CBarile

Only slightly more involved than Andreas Viestad's supersimple tomato salad, this version is inspired by Middle Eastern cuisine. A sprinkling of toasted cumin seeds ground with salt gives the summery salad a warm depth of flavor. Any leftover cumin salt is terrific on grilled chicken or roasted potatoes.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon cumin seeds
• 1 1/2 tablespoons coarse sea salt
• 2 1/4 pounds tomatoes, cored and sliced 1/4 inch thick
• 1 pound cucumbers, peeled and sliced 1/8 inch thick
• 1 large sweet onion, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Details

Servings 4
Preparation time 15mins
Cooking time 15mins

Preparation

Step 1

In a skillet, toast the cumin seeds over moderately high heat until fragrant, 30 seconds; transfer to a mortar and let cool. Add the salt and grind to a coarse powder.

In a large bowl, toss the tomatoes, cucumbers, onion, oil and lemon juice. Sprinkle 2 teaspoons of the cumin salt over the salad and toss. Serve the salad on a platter.