When I was growing up, there was this italian pizza place on the boulevard called milano's.  While the pizza was delicious, it was the house cucumber and tomato salad we went for.

I don't know about you, but pizza and salad are a must have duo. I love sopping up salad dressing with pizza crust, and I love piling lettuce and veggies on top of my plain, extra-cheese pizza and eating it all together in one scrumptious bite.

What made this salad perfection?  It's simplicity. And, while it took me several year to perfect, my version is every bit as tasty, and just as simple. The only difference is that I pick my tomatoes, italian parsley and cucumbers straight from our garden, and grab the lemons from our trees. And sometimes, I even go crazy and throw in some thinly sliced shallots to round everything out— but that’s definitely not the original recipe. That's simple, easy, and totally homegrown!

Ingredients:

3 roma tomatoes, cubed

1 english cucumber, cubed

1/2 a bunch of italian parsley, rough chop the leaves

the juice of 1 lemon

1 Tbsp evoo

1 tsp kosher salt

Directions:

In a medium sized bowl, combine tomatoes, cucumbers, parsley, salt, and lemon juice. Drizzle olive oil over the top, and stir, using just enough to barely coat the veggies.

Place in refrigerator and let sit for at least 1 hour. Stir just before serving. 

Note: the key to everything is letting all the flavors sit together and meld. Do not omit this step-- and really, what's easier than letting your ingredients sit and do all the work for you?