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This simple garden salad is one of my favorite ways to use fresh summer vegetables, especially when tomatoes and cucumbers are at their best. It’s fresh, colorful, crunchy, and comes together in just a few minutes.
I make mine with tomatoes, cucumber, red and green peppers, romaine lettuce, red onion, fresh mint, and oregano. If you enjoy simple salads built around fresh tomatoes and cucumbers, you might also like this tomato and cucumber salad. For this version, I rub the red onion with sumac before adding it to the salad, then toss everything with fresh lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil.
It’s the kind of salad that doesn’t need anything complicated. Just good fresh vegetables, herbs, and a simple lemon and olive oil dressing.
Table of Contents
Ingredients
- Tomatoes: Use ripe, juicy tomatoes and cut them into medium chunks.
- Cucumber: Cut it into pieces roughly the same size as the tomatoes.
- Peppers: I used small red and green sweet peppers. You can use whichever fresh peppers you have available.
- Romaine lettuce: Adds extra crunch and makes the salad a little more substantial.
- Red onion: Thinly sliced and rubbed with sumac before adding it to the salad.
- Sumac: Adds a tart, slightly citrusy flavor that works especially well with the onion.
- Fresh mint: One of my favorite herbs for fresh salads.
- Fresh oregano: I used fresh oregano, but dried oregano works if that’s what you have.
- Lemon juice: Freshly squeezed is best.
- Extra virgin olive oil: Use a good-quality olive oil since it forms the base of the simple dressing.
- Salt and black pepper.
You can also use other fresh herbs you have growing or available, but mint and oregano are the combination I used here.
See the recipe card below for the full ingredient quantities.
How to make Garden Salad
Prepare the vegetables
Cut the tomatoes into medium-sized chunks and add them to a large salad bowl.
Wash and chop the cucumber into similarly sized pieces.
Slice the red and green peppers and roughly chop the romaine lettuce. Add everything to the bowl.
Prepare the onion
Thinly slice the red onion and place it in a small bowl or on your cutting board.
Sprinkle the sumac over the onion and gently rub the onion and sumac together with your fingers. This helps coat the onion thoroughly and brings the flavors together.
Add the onion to the salad.
Add the herbs
Roughly chop or tear the fresh mint and oregano and add them to the bowl.
Dress the salad
Season with salt and black pepper, then squeeze over the fresh lemon juice and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil.
Toss everything together until the vegetables and herbs are evenly coated.
Serve immediately.
What to serve with Garden Salad
This easy everyday salad pairs beautifully with just about anything. Serve it alongside grilled dishes such as grilled fish, grilled salmon, or grilled chicken breast.
It is especially delicious alongside both mujadara with bulgur and mujadara with rice, where its fresh, crisp vegetables provide a refreshing contrast to the hearty lentils and grains. It is also a wonderful side for chicken and rice or mansaf, and fits naturally into a larger Middle Eastern or Mediterranean-style meal. Of course, it is just as satisfying on its own when you want something fresh, light, and simple.
More fresh salad recipes to try
I’d love to hear how your garden salad turns out! Please leave a star rating and a comment below. Your feedback means so much and helps other readers find this recipe too.
Garden Salad Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 large ripe tomatoes
- 2 small cucumbers
- 1 small red sweet pepper
- 1 small green sweet pepper
- 2 cups romaine lettuce
- 1/2 small red onion
- 1 teaspoon sumac
- 2 tablespoons mint leaves
- 1 tablespoon fresh oregano leaves or 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 salt or to taste
- 1/4 black pepper or to taste
Instructions
- Cut the tomatoes into medium chunks and place them in a large bowl.
- Chop the cucumber into similarly sized pieces and add it to the bowl.
- Slice the red and green peppers and chop the romaine lettuce. Add them to the vegetables.
- Thinly slice the red onion. Sprinkle it with the sumac and rub them together gently with your fingers, then add the onion to the salad.
- Add the fresh mint and oregano.
- Season with salt and black pepper.
- Squeeze over the lemon juice and drizzle with the extra virgin olive oil.
- Toss everything together until well combined, then serve immediately.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
