Sezonnyi Salat (сезонний салат, summer garden salad)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •A wide shallow serving bowl
• •A serrated knife for ripe tomatoes
• •Two large spoons or clean hands for tossing

Instructions

1. 1

   Wake the vegetables

   Rinse the tomatoes, cucumbers, radishes, spring onions, and dill, then dry them well enough that the oil can cling. Keep the cucumbers cold until the last moment if your kitchen is hot. A summer salad should crackle under the knife and smell green before the salt touches it.

2. 2

   Cut over bowl

   Set a wide bowl under your hands. Tear the tomatoes into rough pieces if they are very ripe, or cut them with a serrated knife directly over the bowl so every drop lands inside. Split the cucumbers lengthwise, then slice them into uneven half-moons; the broken edges catch oil better than tidy cubes.

   This is the why of the dish: the vegetable juices are not waste, they are the dressing base. Keep them in the bowl and the salad makes itself.
3. 3

   Add the crunch

   Slice the radishes thinly enough that they bend but still bite, then add the spring onions in little slanted pieces. Chop the dill generously, including the tender stems, and throw it in by the handful. If the bowl doesn't look too green, add more dill.

4. 4

   Dress with oil

   Pour over the unrefined sunflower oil and turn everything gently with your hands or two spoons until the tomatoes shine and the dill clings to the cucumber. Taste a cucumber slice before you salt. It should already taste like the garden, only unfinished.

5. 5

   Salt last

   Add the sea salt and black pepper only when people are close to the table, then toss once more and listen for the wet, soft sound at the bottom of the bowl. That sound is right. If using smetana, fold it through lightly so some white streaks remain, or serve it separately for anyone who wants the salad softer.

Chef Tips

• •Salt last. This is the step that doesn't forgive much delay, because salt pulls water from the tomatoes and cucumbers fast. If you need to prep ahead, cut everything except the tomatoes, keep it chilled, then finish when people sit down.
• •Use unrefined sunflower oil if you can. The pale neutral kind will dress the salad, but the green-gold one gives you the nutty smell that belongs here.
• •If tomatoes are poor, don't punish yourself. Use the best cherry tomatoes you can find and add a spoon of fermented tomato brine from a jar; in January we'd open the jar properly, but in summer this keeps the bowl awake.
• •Smetana makes the salad creamy and a bit more modern at my table. Sunflower oil alone keeps it sharper and brighter for a picnic.

Advance Preparation

• •Wash and dry the vegetables a few hours ahead, then keep them chilled and uncut.
• •Chop the dill and spring onions up to 1 hour ahead, wrapped in a damp towel. Cut tomatoes and salt the salad only just before serving.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 255g)