Summer Appetizer: Creamy Ricotta with Tomato-Cucumber-Corn Salad

A quick and easy summery salad, a simple tomato and cucumber salad, with fresh corn kernels added for good measure, served almost as a relish over homemade ricotta.

Real Food, Fresh, Fast & Seasonal. Not just easy, Summer Easy. Budget Friendly. Weeknight Easy, Weekend Special. Potluck & Party Friendly. Low Carb. Naturally Gluten Free.

~ Skip Straight to the Recipes ~
~ Creamy Ricotta with Tomato-Cucumber-Corn Salad ~
~ Ricotta Mousse ~

This recipe is so quick and easy
that I'm adding it to a special collection of easy summer recipes
published every summer since 2009.
Watch for new "summer easy" recipes all summer long!
With a free e-mail subscription, you'll never miss a one!

How to Use Homemade Ricotta

So who's inspired to make ricotta by yesterday’s recipes for Homemade Ricotta? Would you go "skinny" or "creamy"? Or "in between"?!

Let me add a little extra inspiration – errrr, let's be honest here – a little extra “temptation”.

You see, once the ricotta’s in the fridge, the ideas seem to pour forth.

For me, it started with choosing Creamy Ricotta instead of goat cheese for the Savory Peach Appetizer that helped stave off hunger when dinner ran late.

The next night, leftover ricotta and leftover tomato-cucumber salad called to me from the fridge. The savory combination made for a supremely pleasurable light supper for two, accompanied only by a glass of wine, a little bread, a smear of hummus, a few olives.

A week later, I lightened the ricotta further with a little liqueur, then let it chill to form what tastes like "Ricotta Mousse". With a little fruit over top? Oh my.

So here are two new ideas for using fresh homemade ricotta, one savory, one slightly sweet. I’d love to know your ideas too, how are you tempted to use Homemade Ricotta?!

---

CREAMY RICOTTA with TOMATO-CUCUMBER-CORN SALAD

Hands-on time: 5 minutes
Time to table: 5 minutes
Serves 4 or 8 as an appetizer

SALAD
• 1 – 2 perfect summer tomatoes, chopped
• 1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and chopped
• 1 ear of corn, the kernels cut off (How to Cut Corn Off the Cob)
• Fresh herbs


• 1 tablespoon good olive oil
• 1 tablespoon good vinegar
• A pinch of sugar
• Salt and pepper to taste

TO SERVE
• 1 cup Homemade Ricotta, preferably Creamy Ricotta

SALAD Combine the tomato, cucumber, corn and fresh herbs in a bowl. Toss with oil, vinegar, sugar and salt and pepper. If there's time, let the salad chill for awhile.

TO SERVE On a serving plate, mound the ricotta, top with the Salad.

Serve with crackers or thin slices of good bread.

NUTRITION INFORMATION Per Serving (assumes 8): 129 Calories; 9g Tot Fat; 5g Sat Fat; 27mg Cholesterol; 46mg Sodium; 8g Carb; 1g Fiber; 6g Sugar; 4g Protein. WEIGHT WATCHERS Old Points 3 & PointsPlus 3 & SmartPoints 6 & Freestyle 5 & myWW green 5 & blue 5 & purple 5

---

RICOTTA MOUSSE

Hands-on time: 5 minutes
Time-to-table: 5 minutes

Stir a tablespoon of fruity liqueur into a cup of Creamy Ricotta, add a tablespoon of honey and a little lemon zest. Top with slices of fresh fruit, peaches, berries, ripe plums, roasted apricots, even sautéed apples. Simpler still? Warm a little jam in the microwave, drizzle over top.

---

Seasonal Cooking During the Height of Summer

Chicken à la King Peach Uncobbler Grilled Pepper Salads Potato Bites with Smoked Salmon Cantaloupe Smoothie Creamy Ricotta with Tomato-Cucumber-Corn Salad Jerusalem Turkey Burgers with Zucchini BATTLE Sandwiches Oil Tanker Burgers

This Week, Elsewhere

~ Vegan Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies ~
from Pi Pizzeria
~ more St. Louis Restaurant Recipes ~
My Weekly Column in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch

~ Fattoush (Traditional Middle Eastern Salad with Romaine, Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Fried Pita Chips and Lemon-Sumac Vinaigrette) ~
~ more Recent Recipes ~
A Veggie Venture

---

Don't Let the Tomato Season Pass By Without Making

more
~ tomato recipes ~

• THE RECIPE Homemade Mayonnaise for BLTs Some times, Homemade Mayonnaise is worth just a little extra effort.
• ANOTHER TAKE Green Mayonnaise A whole new way to think of mayonnaise.

• THE RECIPE Summer's Tomato Soup Ripe summer tomatoes only, please.
• ANOTHER TAKE Winter Tomato Soup Roasting, slow-cooking draw out summer flavor.

• THE RECIPE Shrimp with Tomatoes, Spinach & Feta Shrimp cooked in a nest of tomatoes, spinach and feta cheese.
  
• ANOTHER TAKE Summer Seafood Chowder Shrimp and scallops in a milky broth, with barely cooked tomato, corn and my favorite vegetable this summer, okra.

---

Shop Your Pantry First

(helping home cooks save money on groceries)

~ tomato recipes ~
~ cucumber recipes ~
~ corn recipes ~
~ ricotta ~

~ All Recipes, By Ingredient ~
~ How to Save Money on Groceries ~

---

Kitchen Parade is written by second-generation food columnist Alanna Kellogg and features fresh, seasonal dishes for every-day healthful eating and occasional indulgences. Quick Suppers are Kitchen Parade favorites and feature recipes easy on the budget, the clock, the waistline and the dishwasher. Do you have a favorite recipe that other Kitchen Parade readers might like? Just send me a quick e-mail via recipes@kitchen-parade.com. How to print a Kitchen Parade recipe. Never miss a recipe! If you like this recipe, sign up for a free e-mail subscription. If you like Kitchen Parade, you're sure to like my food blog about vegetable recipes, too, A Veggie Venture. If you make this recipe, I'd love to know your results! Just leave a comment below.

---

© Copyright Kitchen Parade
2011, 2014 & 2020¹