Ingredients

　　1 medium cucumber, peeled, quartered lengthwise, and cut into 1-inch cubes

　　1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved

　　2 large ripe avocados, peeled, pitted, and cut into bite-size pieces

　　2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

　　1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

　　1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

　　Freshly ground black pepper

　　1/4 to 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

　　Place the cucumber, tomatoes, and avocados in a large bowl. In another bowl, whisk together the vinegar, mustard, salt, freshly ground pepper to taste, and olive oil. Add the dressing to the vegetables and toss to coat. Serve immediately.

　　Pastry Queen Parties by Rebecca Rather and Alison Oresman. Copyright © 2009 Rebecca Rather and Alison Oresman. Published by Ten Speed Press. All Rights Reserved.A pastry chef, restaurateur, and cookbook author, native Texan Rebecca Rather has been proprietor of the Rather Sweet Bakery and Café since 1999. Open for breakfast and lunch daily, Rather Sweet has a fiercely loyal cadre of regulars who populate the café’s sunlit tables each day. In 2007, Rebecca opened her eponymous restaurant, serving dinner nightly, just a few blocks from the café.  Rebecca is the author of THE PASTRY QUEEN, and has been featured in Texas Monthly, Gourmet, Ladies Home Journal, Food & Wine, Southern Living, Chocolatier, Saveur, and O, The Oprah Magazine. When she isn’t in the bakery or on horseback, Rebecca enjoys the sweet life in Fredericksburg, where she tends to her beloved backyard garden and menagerie, and eagerly awaits visits from her college-age daughter, Frances.Alison Oresman has worked as a journalist for more than twenty years. She has written and edited for newspapers in Wyoming, Florida, and Washington State. As an entertainment editor for the Miami Herald, she oversaw the paper’s restaurant coverage and wrote a weekly column as a restaurant critic. After settling in Washington State, she also covered restaurants in the greater Seattle area as a critic with a weekly column. A dedicated home baker, Alison is often in the kitchen when she isn't writing. Alison lives in Bellevue, Washington, with her husband, Warren, and their children, Danny and Callie.