Summer

"Dressed" Up Tomato and Zucchini Salad

October  4, 2022
4.5
2 Ratings
  • Serves 2 to 4
Author Notes

This salad screams summertime with garden tomatoes, zucchini and basil. Creamy mayo, buttermilk, basil, tomato and garlic "dresses" it all up! The dressing makes more than you'll need for the amount of salad I made, but you'll have more than enough if you need to feed a crowd. It also works well as a dip for veggies or fried eggplant or zucchini. —inpatskitchen

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • For the dressing
  • 3/4 cup homemade mayo or a good quality commercial one
  • 1/4 cup buttermilk
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 1 tomato seeded, cored and rough chopped
  • 8 large basil leaves
  • Pinch of salt and pepper
  • For the salad
  • 1 small zucchini, about 7 to 8 inches long
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 3 or 4 of your favorite tomatoes, the best you can find or grow
  • A few drizzles of the dressing
  • A few thinly sliced or torn basil leaves for garnish
Directions
  1. For the dressing
  2. Place all the ingredients in a blender or mini food processor and process until smooth. Refrigerate.
  1. For the salad
  2. Slice the zucchini in ovals just under 1/2 inch thick. Toss with the salt and place in a colander to "drain" for about one hour. Rinse the slices thoroughly and pat dry with paper toweling.
  3. Slice the tomatoes just under 1/2 inch thick and then arrange the tomatoes and zucchini decoratively on a plate or platter. Drizzle with as much of the dressing as you like and garnish with the fresh basil. Serve at room temperature.

See what other Food52ers are saying.

  • gingerroot
    gingerroot
  • inpatskitchen
    inpatskitchen
inpatskitchen

Recipe by: inpatskitchen

I think I get my love for food and cooking from my mom, who was an amazing cook. She would start baking and freezing a month before Christmas in order to host our huge open house on Christmas afternoon. I watched and I learned...to this day I try not to procrastinate when it comes to entertaining. My cooking style is pretty much all over the place, although I'm definitely partial to Greek and Italian cuisine. Oh yes, throw a little Cajun in there too!

2 Reviews

gingerroot July 19, 2012
Yum, your dressing sounds fantastic. I can almost taste it!
 
inpatskitchen July 19, 2012
Thanks gingerroot! The dressing IS really tasty!