This is the salad that reminds you why salad exists. Fresh cucumbers, crisp bell pepper, sweet tomatoes, and a zippy lemon dressing — no wilted greens, no sad croutons. Just vegetables doing exactly what they were meant to do.
Wash all your vegetables thoroughly and dry them well. Wet vegetables make watery salad — nobody wants that.
Roughly tear or chop 4 cups of fresh spinach leaves into bite-sized pieces. Place them in a large salad bowl.
Slice 1 medium cucumber into thin half-moons. If the skin is waxed (grocery store cucumbers), peel it first; if it's fresh-from-the-garden or English cucumber, leave the skin on.
Dice 1 bell pepper (any color works — red and yellow are sweeter, green is more bitter and grassy) into roughly ½-inch pieces.
Cut 1 cup of cherry tomatoes in half, or dice 2 medium tomatoes into chunks. Add them to the bowl.
Make the dressing: whisk together 3 tablespoons of olive oil, 1½ tablespoons of red wine vinegar, the juice of half a lemon, ½ teaspoon of honey, a big pinch of salt, and several grinds of black pepper. Taste it on your finger — it should be bright, slightly tangy, and not too sweet.
Add the cucumber, bell pepper, and tomatoes to the bowl with the spinach.
Drizzle the dressing over the salad. Start with about three-quarters of it — you can always add more, but you cannot take it away.
Toss gently with clean hands or tongs, making sure every leaf and vegetable piece gets coated.
Serve immediately. This salad does not wait well once dressed — the acid wilts the spinach within about 15 minutes. Dress it right before serving.
“That produce never saw it coming. In the best way.”
