Marinated cucumber salad

Tired of lettuce based salads, and a long time lover of cucumbers, I decided it was time to switch up the salad routine around here, and bump us from our lettuce rut. Enter my marinated cucumber salad. All the freshness of summer, with the sweet citrus flavors of an orange and poppy seed marinade.

This salad is best made the day before you wish to serve it, and marinated overnight. The longer marinating time allows for the vegetables to soften slightly, and for the flavors to marry well.

The grape tomatoes are firm, and allow for a little 'burst' of flavor. They also look great, and add a lot of beautiful color to the dish.

Ingredients:

Salad
1 large cucumber, edges forked, and thinly sliced
10 ounces of grape tomatoes, halved
1/2 red onion, halved, then thinly sliced
1 ripe avocado, diced
3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
Basil leaves

Dressing
2 ounces olive oil (I use Barouni olive oil from Joelle)
2 ounces white vinegar
1 teaspoon honey
1 tablespoon orange juice
1/2 teaspoon poppy seeds

Directions:

Into a gallon Ziploc storage bag, add all your prepared vegetables.

Add the dressing. Press to remove most of the air from the bag, and toss the bag to coat its contents. Marinate overnight, or at least 12 hours. Turn the bag over a few times as it marinates, to make sure all vegetables in the bag get a nice 'swim' in the marinade. Prior to serving, transfer salad to a decorative bowl, toss, garnish with basil leaves and sprigs, and serve as a side to any grilled meat or other main dish.