Bleu Summer Tomato Salad

i have been MIA this past week while E and i spent some time with family, friends, and each other celebrating, relaxing, recharging and doing a whole lot of driving.

the best thing about traveling for me is it truly is a vacation. not only am i not working, but i get a total break from cooking. i don't have to cook for clients and i don't even have to cook for us. the other good thing is when i get back, i'm ready to get back in the kitchen and cook/bake.

the evidence of that may have been the 4 different batches of cookies i baked on saturday. before you pick up the phone and send help my way, don't worry, i didn't eat them all myself - i took them to an assisted living home, our church, and a birthday party. i actually only managed to eat 4, so i was pretty proud of myself:) of course the oreo cream chip cookies were a big hit as always - true decadence!

after baking all those cookies, i needed an quick and easy dish to throw together full of vegetables. this bleu summer tomato salad was the perfect remedy to my cookie overload.

the tang from the bleu cheese really pairs well with ripe summer tomatoes and cool cucumbers. i used crumbled buttermilk bleu because it's my favorite but feta tastes great too it you have a bleu cheese aversion. after i made the salad i thought freshly cut corn on the cob would have been the perfect addition to this salad. but it's great as is too!

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Bleu Summer Tomato Salad
makes 4-6 sides

1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
1 medium hot house cucumber (i like these because they are seedless, but any kind will work)
1/2 cup crumbled bleu cheese or feta
1 tbs extra virgin olive oil
2 tbs balsamic vinegar
1 tsp dijon mustard
1/4 tsp garlic salt
1/8 tsp freshly ground pepper

in a large bowl, whisk together oil, vinegar, mustard, salt and pepper. chop cucumber into bite-sized pieces. toss cucumber, halved tomatoes, and crumbled bleu cheese into bowl with dressing. stir well with a spatula and enjoy!