Tomato Cucumber Mozzarella Salad

The real estate market is strong this week. I showed 8 properties and closed on 1. The pipeline is strong. The phone rings with the steady rhythm of a business that has taken six years to build and refuses to slow down.

Sophia is studying with an intensity that would concern me if it were directed at anything other than science. She talked about it at dinner for twenty minutes and I understood approximately half of it but all of the joy behind it.

I thought about Baba this week. Not the grief — the grief is always there, a familiar companion now — but the man. The way he stood at the bakery counter with his arms crossed. The way he hummed Greek songs he never knew the words to. The way he loved us in silence, which was the loudest love I have ever known.

I made lemon chicken soup — not the ceremony of avgolemono but simpler, humbler. Roasted chicken, potatoes, lemon. A hug in a bowl. We ate at the kitchen table, just the three of us, and for a moment the house was not quiet or loud — it was exactly right. Full. Fed. The sound of forks on plates is the sound I love most in this world.

The olive oil in my kitchen is from a Greek import shop in Tampa that sources from Kalamata. It is expensive. It is worth it. I use it on everything — salads, fish, bread, vegetables, the edge of a pot of soup — because olive oil is not a condiment in this family, it is a philosophy. Use it generously. Use it without apology. Use it the way you use love: poured freely, never measured, always more than you think you need.

The soup was the heart of the meal, but it was what I put alongside it that felt most like Baba — a simple plate of tomatoes, cucumbers, and fresh mozzarella, finished with a long pour of that Kalamata olive oil and nothing else to apologize for. It’s the kind of dish that requires almost no time, which is exactly what a week of eight showings and one closing leaves you with, and yet it tastes like intention. If olive oil is a philosophy in this kitchen, this salad is where that philosophy lives most plainly.

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 0 minutes | Total Time: 10 minutes | Servings: 4

Ingredients

2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved (or 3 medium ripe tomatoes, cut into wedges)
1 large English cucumber, sliced into half-moons
8 oz fresh mozzarella, torn or sliced
3 tablespoons good-quality extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1/4 teaspoon flaky sea salt, plus more to taste
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, torn
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano (optional)

Instructions

Prep the vegetables. Halve the cherry tomatoes and slice the cucumber into half-moons roughly 1/4 inch thick. Arrange them together on a wide serving plate or shallow bowl.
Add the cheese. Tear the fresh mozzarella into rough pieces and scatter evenly over the tomatoes and cucumber.
Dress generously. Drizzle the olive oil over the entire plate, followed by the red wine vinegar. Do not be shy with the olive oil — this is not the time for restraint.
Season and finish. Sprinkle with flaky sea salt and black pepper. Scatter the torn fresh basil over the top. Add dried oregano if using.
Rest briefly and serve. Let the salad sit for 3–5 minutes before serving so the salt draws a little juice from the tomatoes and everything comes together. Serve at room temperature alongside bread or soup.

Nutrition (per serving)

Tomato Cucumber Mozzarella Salad — The Olive Oil Philosophy, Plated Simply