Cucumber, Cherries, Tri-color Mini Peppers, Tomato Salad

The fresh, crisp vegetables and fruits with a light citrus dressing makes this a perfect summer salad. Accompanied by a tall glass of Watermelon Smoothie, this cucumber-cherry-pepper-tomato salad can be a sumptuous summer mid-day meal. Add in a small hunk of Pugliese bread to mop up the dressing and it turns into a feast-of-sorts.

But that is not all. Stir in some plain non-fat beaten yogurt and it turns into a peerless raita to accompany spicy Chicken Paella or Hyderabadi Chicken Biriyani.

Cilantro, mint, tomatoes, and sweet walla walla onions were from the home garden.

Ingredients
cucumber
mini tri-color peppers
pitted fresh cherries
shallot or small walla-walla sweet onion
yellow fresh tomato
cherry or grape red tomatoes
½ serrano chili (de-seeded, if preferred)
1 tsp freshly grated ginger (optional)

roasted sunflower seeds or peanuts for garnish

Asian Light Citrus Dressing:
4 mint leaves, chopped finely
1 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro leaves
1 tsp mirin
1 tsp rice vinegar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tsp sesame oil
a pinch of salt as needed
a dash of ground black pepper to taste