When I was a student I used to live in an area of London packed with Turkish and Greek supermarkets. And they were certainly the best place to shop cheaply on a budget. The boxes of perfectly ripe fruits and vegetables were better quality than the premium ranges in supermarkets and cheaper than the economy lines. They all packed such a flavour kick meals felt indulgent and rich rather than thrifty. I practically lived on this Tomato, Cucumber and Parsley Salad which goes with everything and can be kept in the fridge on standby for a couple of days so you always get your good stuff. Try adding feta, chicken, steak or some fresh tuna steak for a heartier meal. Or just soak up the juices with a chunk of bread like my children do. This is actually the perfect salad for little ones as it’s already chopped up so can be eaten with a fork or spoon and they actually tend to like the punchy flavour of parsley over a bland lettuce leaf.
Even if you don’t live near a gorgeous Mediterranean supermarket you can gather these ingredients from the supermarket, especially as they are coming into season and down in price now. This makes enough for about four as a side but I would double the recipe if you are cooking for a family and have it again for packed lunches or dinner the next day. It should cost around 30p a portion but go for the best flavour tomatoes you can. At the moment I am using baby plums but as the summer continues will go for some really ripe on the vine large tomatoes.
Tomato, Cucumber and Parsley Salad
Ingredients
- 250g tomatoes
- 250g cucumber
- 50g parsley, large stalks removed
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- salt and pepper
Directions
- Step 1 Peel and half down the length the cucumber. Using a teaspoon scrape out all the seeds in the cucumber. Now slice each length into three lengthways and chop these.
- Step 2 Chop the tomatoes into similar size pieces, you don’t want too chunky a chop as it’s important to get a bit of everything in your mouth at once!
- Step 3 Finely chop the bunch of parsley.
- Step 4 Combine all in a bowl and season. Pour over the lemon and the olive oil and mix very well. This is best served at room temperature.
