Crispy thin cucumber and onion slices in a more sweet than tangy vinegar and sugar dressing.

New York Deli Style Cucumber Salad

I'm gonna be honest here. I've never been a big traveler, so there's a lot I've never experienced.

I don't like flying commercial. I hate being in a car for very long.

Day trips locally? I'm all for that if I can go and get back home that same day.

Long story short. I've never stepped foot in New York, much less New York City. The only time I've traveled even close to there was to air my cookbook (#ad) on QVC!

Cucumbers and sweet onions, marinated in a slightly sweetened white wine and rice vinegar dressing with mustard seeds and tossed with fresh tomatoes.

Marinated Cucumber and Tomato Salad

• Seeing as it's summer
• That it's hotter than hot right now, and
• I'm certainly getting my fill of all the cooling foods I can right now

Here's yet another cucumber and tomato salad to add to the collection!

This version was inspired by one that I ran across in Paula Deen's At the Southern Table cookbook. It was a little bit different from the typical cucumber and tomato salad and interesting enough that it had me curious, so I thought I'd give it a try... with my own adaptations, of course!

Cold Green Bean Salad - fresh green beans, blanched then shocked in cold water to retain crispness, dressed with a seasoned vinaigrette and finished with sliced cherry tomatoes.

Cold Green Bean Salad

I have a confession to make. I have been cheating on y'all!

Well, not like that... but, when it comes to posting new stuff, things were a bit slow last month. Although I have written quite a few new recipes lately (that I've yet to write up, including this one), I have primarily been using my usual, regular, repeat recipes that y'all have also already been using for years too now. I've also been using my Traeger grill and my pressure cooker quite a bit too.

 

Thick cut slices of cucumber, with sweet onion and fresh tomatoes, mixed with a mayonnaise, sour cream and fresh herb dressing for a creamy cucumber salad.

Creamy Cucumber and Tomato Salad

When the weather is warm around here, there are two things you will almost always find in my fridge - watermelon and some kind of cucumber salad - and that hasn't slowed down.

There's a dysfunction in my hypothalamus (which I'm sure is way more than you probably ever wanted to know about me), so I get overheated super easy in the summer, and those are two cooling foods that I know will help to keep my body thermostat in check.

So... in the midst of these summer-like temps, and before soup, stew, chili and gumbo weather arrives in the fall, I'm gonna slide in another one of my favorite cucumber salads that I've been munching on for the past few weeks.

Fresh tomatoes, roughly chopped and marinated in a herb vinaigrette. Serve as is, spoon over a mixed garden salad, use as a garnish with grilled meats, or spoon over individual plates of plain shredded lettuce.

Marinated Tomatoes

With the big move to our new home, I planted a little late this year, and just picked the first of my homegrown tomatoes off the vine in my backyard. They will soon be part of my annual summer ritual.

This year, I was short on time to dig a garden or set up raised beds like before, so I just did a few containers of tomatoes in 5 gallon buckets and planted some herbs, beans and cucumbers right outside the patio door.

 

Layered with iceberg lettuce, cauliflower, broccoli, red onion, bacon and Parmesan cheese, and dressed with a vinegar and mayonnaise, mustard dressing. Shown here with my Southern Style Green Beans and Ground Beef Mac and Cheese casserole.

Next Day Salad

I seem to be on a roll here with salads! Well, it is that time of the year I suppose and I sure hope that you can bear one more, because it's a good one.

We have a family owned market (now catering and buffet restaurant) here on the Coast called Broome's Grocery. They've always been a favorite store for locals - I can remember when they were one of the very few stores to open shortly after Hurricane Katrina.

There wasn't any electricity, but they opened to sell bread and snacks and whatever non-perishables they had left on the shelf. We were all standing in the line, hot, sweaty, wore out and frankly, a little dirty from the cleanup process, none of us having water to bathe for days already, but so grateful to be able to pick up a few familiar things to eat after those first days.

I tell you what... you don't know how much you miss having running water and electricity until you don't have it anymore.

Strawberry Spinach Salad with a crunchy ramen and nut topping and dressed with a creamy mayonnaise-based poppyseed dressing.

Strawberry Spinach Salad

You may have noticed by now that salads make an appearance in the background of many of my photographs, and that's because we eat salads almost every single day in my household. It helps us to balance our plates and still enjoy our favorite Southern recipes in moderation.

Five cup salad, and all of its expanded cup versions, is another old fashioned fruit salad that is perfect for any holiday table. A very simple but delicious and well-loved dish.

Old Fashioned 5 Cup Salad

Five Cup Salad is another fruit salad that has been around forever - well, for as long as I can remember anyway - and, while it's good any time of the year, is a great addition to the holiday table too.

Many of us will remember it from days gone by in our Mama's and Grandma's kitchens, but as always, there are some variations that have appeared in this fruit salad over the years. Some adding additional cups of various ingredients, some even changing up the fruit, but I think this version represents the old, basic 5 cup salad.