Another season gone by. This time it was summer and that means our garden was in full blossom throughout the summer months and did we ever get a big harvest of tomatoes, among other things. I’ll be honest with you though and admit that tomatoes are not my favorite. I’ll pick them, make sauce, and create BLTs and salsas out of them, and then pretty much make whatever I think my wife might enjoy as she is the one typically easting the majority of them. As I would typically make a tomato and cucumber salad or some sort of Greek salad, I decided to create a little spin off of those and create a Vietnamese Tomato Salad that was sure to please.
This recipe couldn’t be any easier and you may have some of these items finishing up in your garden.
Let’s get started.
Ingredients for the dressing:
- 2 tbsp good fish sauce (I use Red Boat or 3 Crab brand)
- 2 tbsp granulated sugar
- 2 tbsp lime juice
- Mix well
Ingredients for the salad:
- 1/3 cup thinly sliced bell pepper
- 3 tbsp roughly chopped fresh cilantro
- 1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion, or shallot
- 1/3 cup seedless cucumber, sliced half then into coins
- 3 tomatoes, cut into small wedges
- 1/4 cup roasted peanuts
That’s it. You can adjust your salad ingredients should you desire but these give a great deal of flavor and texture to get you munching on this one.
First start off by making your dressing. Add the dressing ingredients to a small bowl, and mix to combine, making sure to break down and dissolve that sugar the best that you can. Set that aside.
Next prepare the salad ingredients. This just takes a bit of slicing. Add the sliced pieces to a medium sized mixing bowl. Now for the mix.
I like to use some kitchen safe rubber gloves on this one but feel free to use a couple of spoons to get things thoroughly mixed. Add in the dressing and mix again to ensure that everything is nice and evenly coated. Serve onto a bowl or nice serving platter and you are all set for a new take on a tomato salad. And don’t worry about the dressing because it is everything sweet, sour, and salty and balances so nicely with the rest of the salad. Hope you enjoy this as much as we did!