This summer garden salad is comprised entirely of garden abundance and features fresh cucumbers, tomatoes, curly kale, and fresh basil!

Summer Garden Salad

If your summer garden produces anything like ours, chances are you have a surplus of tomatoes, basil, kale, cucumbers and mixed greens. Plus, if you are a homesteader, chances are eggs are naturally a part of your staple diet, and they are a lovely addition to this summer garden salad.

This summer garden salad is full of abundant veggies and is open to fun experimentation to utilize the garden produce unique to you.

cucumbers, tomatoes, feta, and hard boiled eggs

Using Garden Veggies

As the name “salad” implies, a bed of greens sets the stage for the creation. However, this summer garden salad utilizes just as much (or more) of additional garden veggies. In every bite is a happy mix of cool and refreshing cucumber, sweet and slightly tangy tomatoes, a spritz of basil for the true heart of summer, and a light sprinkle of feta to bring all of the flavors together. Boiled egg halves line the salad plate for additional color and protein.

What You’ll Need

The beauty of this creation is that it invites you to get creative! Is your cilantro going wild and needing a friendly haircut? Throw some into the mix. Want a fruity addition? Swap the tomatoes for mixed berries, or if you’re feeling adventurous, keep the tomatoes and let all the ingredients create new flavor combinations not yet known to you! The possibilities are literally endless with this salad. Add pecans for a nutty flavor or get creative with your dressing choice.

Cucumbers

There’s hardly anything as refreshing as a cucumber. I’ve always had a thing for cucumber water midsummer. Perhaps it’s the insanely uplifting nature or beyond refreshing benefits, but cucumbers are a summer favorite! Chopped finely, they are the perfect addition!

Tomatoes

Tomatoes are one of those plants with the greatest ease of entry. Requiring little upkeep, tomato vines grow well in sunny places, producing faithfully all summer long. This salad isn’t picky about which variety of tomato. Cherry, heirloom, or yellow tomato varieties are all terrific choices.

Kale, Mixed Greens, or Romaine Lettuce

Unlike traditional garden salads, the base of this summer garden salad is not the typical lettuce or mixed baby greens. Instead I started off with a bed of curly kale, freshly harvested from our herb garden. Curly kale grows in our gardens year-round, is a hardy addition to salads and stews, and doesn’t die off in the winter. We can always rest assured that curly kale will grow in abundance no matter the season. Although I used curly kale for this summer garden salad, a bed of mixed greens or romaine lettuce would lay a perfect foundation as well. Again, I encourage you to use what’s growing! If Swiss chard is your abundant grower or spinach lines your garden aisles, change it up and use what’s in season.

Feta Cheese

Feta’s mild but salty flavor brings the entire salad together. The soft and rich texture takes satisfaction to the next level! Other cheeses such as grated parmesan make delicious substitutes.

Hard Boiled Eggs

I love adding eggs to salad. Whether fried, boiled and chopped, or boiled and halved, eggs add a whole new level to any salad. This salad prefers eggs that have been hard boiled and chilled to hold the egg together and keep it from powdering throughout the salad.

Basil

What can be considered more “summery” than basil? Basil grows in abundance during the warm months and can be harvested fresh all season long. Our garden produces a surplus of basil, and to compensate for the abundance, we add it to summer soups, pesto and Italian dishes. But basil’s flavor range goes beyond its traditional uses. Try adding it to your garden salad for an extra pop of summer! Basil’s flavor is typically mild, so don’t be worried about overdoing it. Add it in smaller amounts to your primary choice of greens, but don’t be afraid to pack it on.