Cucumber and Tomato Salad With Cilantro and Mint

Microwave is the *best* way to dry mint -- or any herbs. Microwaving preserves the flavor and especially the color of herbs. There's no comparison to air dried herbs.

Place the fresh (clean) herbs on a towel (or paper towel) on a plate. Put another towel on top. Microwave on high for about one minute. The towel will absorb lots of water. Use another dry towel to finish drying -- this time in short bursts of 20 seconds or so. Don't overdo it! They are dry before they even look dry!

I prepared this early to leave in the fridge for dinner tonight. I let it sit on the counter for a bit, to let the flavors blend, before tasting. Big mistake. It's now gone. I ate every bit and love, loved it! Fresh tasting and wonderful complex flavors. A new favorite.

Good idea to let sit on the counter for a bit to blend flavors, but refrigerating tomatoes is a flavor-killer. NEVER refrigerate tomatoes!

I used Aleppo pepper in place of the chili powder.

I fondly remember visiting my Lebanese grandmother when she was processing the abundant supply of mint from her garden. NEVER did I find it tasteless, by the way.

Her method was pretty simple: strip the leaves from the stems and place them on the newspaper covered dining table. A few windows left open created a breeze. They mint was dried within a few days. I can still see her crumbling it over feta cheese just before drizzling same with rich, dark green olive oil from Beirut.
Amazing!

Add pieces of toasted pita, and it's fatoush! Can't wait for summer tomatoes...

Question: I'd rather use fresh mint from my garden. What amount fresh should I use instead of dried, and would this detrimentally affect the flavor? Thanks!

This is a standard staple in the South Caucasus, not just Armenia. In summer when it's too hot to bother with cooking, it's cucumber-tomato salad with some bread and cheese and we call it dinner. In western Georgia we also add crushed walnuts or hazelnuts (omitting mint) to coat the salad.

Should I "sweat" the cucumbers, or let them release moisture onto towels to prevent a watery salad? I've done this with most other cucumber salads, so I thought someone would write about it in the notes...

Refrigerating tomatoes is not the horror it is commonly made out to be. http://www.seriouseats.com/2016/10/why-you-can-and-sometimes-should-refr...

A super simple, straight forward salad that is such a nice change from the lettuce salads I always seem to resort to. In my opinion it goes with anything and hits the spot all on its own. Thank you Mark Bittman.

Usually, fresh herbs are used in double the amount of dried. And I used fresh mint, also, and it was delicious.

This is typical street food, which embellishes shawarma in pitas in Saudi Arabia. Usually it comes with a white sauce of yogurt and olive oil. Sometimes it contains black olives and/or chopped green bell peppers. The herb is cilantro, though. It's a juicy, mouth-watering salad on its own as well.

1/2 tsp of chili flakes would overwhelm 4 tomatoes. A milder chili powder would be a better choice.

Love this recipe. We've also made it substituting watermelon for the tomatoes. Delightful!