Simple Tomato and Cucumber Salad over Whipped Ricotta

This simple tomato and cucumber salad with red bell peppers, tarragon vinaigrette, and basil whipped ricotta, makes a light, colorful, and satisfying dinner in about 15 minutes.

If your family is used to more meat and potato kind of meals, they might be a bit skeptical of a big bowl of tomatoes, cucumbers, and red bell peppers spooned over ricotta cheese for dinner. But, they’re in for a treat.

This is one of those recipes that is so simple, and so packed with flavor, you’ll find yourself coming back to it over and over again.

It’s all about the tomatoes.

To state the obvious, the tomatoes in tomato salad are a pretty important ingredient. It’s vital that they are fresh and flavorful. Where I live, getting good, ripe, flavorful tomatoes in the middle of winter is next to impossible. They mostly taste like cardboard until June.

But, cherry tomatoes are a different story. I can regularly find sweet, ripe cherry tomatoes in my grocery store’s produce section all year round, which is why I used them for this tomato cucumber salad. But, if you have access to large ripe tomatoes that don’t taste like cardboard and would rather use those, go right ahead.

The croutons are optional.

They add a nice crunch, but this tomato and cucumber salad is also delicious without them. If making Homemade Croutons, get those going before making the salad. Unless you’re making a large amount, homemade croutons should only take about 10 minutes of prep time and 10-20 minutes to bake.

Weekly Meal Plans that include Tomato Cucumber Salad with Basil Ricotta:

Weekly Winter Meal Plan #3

Used in this Recipe:

Cuisinart Food Processor

Tomato Cucumber Salad with Basil Ricotta

Author: RebeccaBlackwell

Print Recipe

Description

This simple tomato and cucumber salad with red bell peppers, tarragon vinaigrette, and basil whipped ricotta, makes a light, colorful, and satisfying dinner in about 15 minutes.

Ingredients

3 cups cherry tomatoes – OR, whole tomatoes, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 English cucumber, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, divided
2 tbsp tarragon vinegar
1/2 tsp dijon mustard
1 tsp honey
2 cups ricotta cheese
1 cup fresh basil leaves
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
Croutons for serving (optional)

Instructions

Combine chopped veggies in a bowl and sprinkle with a bit of salt and pepper.
In a small bowl, add 2 tbsp of the olive oil, the tarragon vinegar, dijon and honey and whisk to combine. Pour over the chopped veggies and toss to coat.
In the bowl of a food processor, add the ricotta, basil, 2 tbsp olive oil, salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper. Process until smooth, about 1 minute.
Scoop about 1/2 cup of ricotta onto each plate, top with about 1 cup tomato cucumber salad, and serve. Pass croutons at the table, if desired.

Notes

Croutons are an optional ingredient of this tomato cucumber salad, but they add a nice crunch. If you have any leftover, slightly stale bread in your house, they are super simple to make. Just follow this recipe for homemade croutons.