This salad screams summertime with garden tomatoes, zucchini and basil. Creamy mayo, buttermilk, basil, tomato and garlic "dresses" it all up! The dressing makes more than you'll need for the amount of salad I made, but you'll have more than enough if you need to feed a crowd. It also works well as a dipr for veggies or fried eggplant or zucchini.

Serves 2 to 4

For the dressing:

• 3/4 cups homemade mayo or a good quality commercial one
• 1/4 cup buttermilk
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 tomato seeded, cored and rough chopped
• 8 large basil leaves
• Pinch of salt and black pepper

Place all ingredients in a blender or mini food processor and process until smooth. Refrigerate.

For the salad:

• 1 small zucchini, about 7 to 8 inches long
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 or 4 of your favorite tomatoes, the best you can find or grow
• A few drizzles of the dressing
• A few thinly sliced or torn basil leaves for garnish

1. Slice the zucchini in ovals just under 1/2 inch. Toss with the salt and place in a colander to "drain" for about one hour. Rinse the slices thoroughly and pat dry with paper toweling.
2. Slice the tomatoes just under 1/2 inch and then arrange the tomatoes and zucchini decoratively on a plate or platter. Drizzle with as much of the dressing as you like and garnish with the fresh basil. Serve at room temperature.