Salad with smoked breast, tomatoes, cheese and cucumbers

Step-by-step preparation

Cooking time: 45 mins

1. STEP 1

   

   How to make a delicious salad with smoked breast, tomatoes, cheese and cucumbers? Very simple! To begin, prepare the necessary ingredients according to the list. You can use regular or cherry tomatoes. I have small Baku tomatoes - they are larger than cherry tomatoes, but smaller than regular tomatoes. You can add or replace the vegetable part to your liking.

2. STEP 2

   

   Peel the red onion and cut into thin rings or half rings. Marinate the onion in a mixture of vinegar and sugar for 20 minutes. Then drain the marinade. You can use any vinegar - I used white wine vinegar, but apple, red wine or regular table vinegar 9% will do.

3. STEP 3

   

   Remove skin and bones from the smoked breast and cut into thin slices. You can replace the breast with meat from smoked legs.

4. STEP 4

   

   Cut the tomatoes into slices. If you have cherry tomatoes, use halves. The tomatoes need to be juicy, but firm. Soft fruits do not hold their shape well; during cutting and cooking, they will spread into a shapeless mass and spoil the appearance of the dish.

5. STEP 5

   

   Cut the cucumbers into semicircles or, if they are small in diameter, into circles.

6. STEP 6

   

   Peel the bell pepper from seeds and stems and cut into strips.

7. STEP 7

   

   Remove the olives and mozzarella from the brine and dry. You can use any cheese for the salad that you like: hard cheeses such as Russian or Gouda, soft cheeses such as curd, processed or feta. Since my salad has Italian dressing, I decided to make the whole salad Italian style, so I chose brined mozzarella balls.

8. STEP 8

   

   Салатные листья обсушите. Салатные листья порвите руками на более мелкие кусочки. У меня обычный московский салат. It can be replaced with a finished mixture of salad leaves.

9. STEP 9

   

   Wash the basil and remove the leaves from the branches.

10. STEP 10

    

    Now prepare the Italian dressing. The oil for it is usually olive, but any vegetable oil will do. Mustard - Dijon or grainy, as you prefer. Usually add 1 tbsp to the dressing. l. white or red wine vinegar, but it already contains pickled onions in vinegar. That's why I didn't add vinegar to the dressing.

11. STEP 11

    

    Finely chop the basil. If you don't have fresh basil, substitute dried basil. And take parsley as a fresh herb. If you find fresh oregano, great, then you don’t have to take dried. A salad always tastes better with fresh herbs than with dried ones.

12. STEP 12

    

    In a bowl, combine olive oil, lemon juice, mustard, pressed garlic, basil, oregano, salt and pepper. Beat everything thoroughly with a fork until smooth.

13. STEP 13

    

    Place lettuce leaves on a plate. Top with smoked chicken, tomatoes, cucumber, bell pepper, cheese, red onion and olives. Sprinkle everything with fresh basil leaves.

14. STEP 14

    

    Drizzle Italian dressing over the salad and serve immediately. Bon appetit!