Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Super Easy Cucumber Salad

Cucumber Salad
Okay, you may have noticed that I'm not a huge salad person by the lack of salad talk here on my blog.  I actually had to create a new label just for this post. ;-)  But, there is one simple vegetable salad that I do love to make and eat.  I was first introduced to this dish by an Austrian friend while backpacking around Europe over twenty years ago.  I stayed with her and her family for a couple of weeks in Vienna and let's just say that most meals were comprised of meat, with a side of meat, and the day she introduced me to this light, summery and refreshing cucumber treat my gut thought it had won the lottery.  She showed me how to prepare it and I have been making it off and on ever since.  It's basically just thinly sliced cucumber and onion in a vinaigrette dressing.  There are countless versions and variations of this recipe all over the place so feel free to play around with the dressing.  I don't usually measure but today, for the purpose of sharing, I made it as follows.

Ingredients:

1 English cucumber thinly sliced
1 small red onion thinly sliced
juice from half a lemon
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 teaspoons agave nectar (or sweetener of your choice)
1/2 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
freshly ground black pepper

Instructions:

Thinly slice the cucumber and place in medium sized bowl. (I don't like it too thin or it goes soggy after a day in the fridge) Squeeze lemon juice over the cucumber and toss. Add thinly sliced onion. (The onion I do slice as thin as possible because it's raw.)

Whisk together remaining ingredients, taste for seasoning and pour over the cucumber and onion.  Toss to mix and refrigerate.  I like to eat it right away but many recipes suggest leaving it to cool.  It's up to you!   The salad should keep in the fridge, tightly covered for a day or two.  

11 comments:

  1. Ha! took this long for a salad tag, huh?

    I"m not a salad fan because I don't like vinegar, and I rarely like oil on raw veggies. So my salads are "dry" and not all that appealing. I've found a very few dressings I like. One with sesame oil that's at a restaurant, and others lemon juice based, salsa based, etc.

    Pretty picture though!!!

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  2. I know, I was kind of surprised when I had to add the tag today because I know I've reviewed a few good salads. I think I'm the least salad-y vegan I know!

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  3. Lee said: I think I'm the least salad-y vegan I know!

    No, that might be me!

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  4. Oh, gosh! That looks AMAZING!!! I am going to try and make this over the weekend! MMM!!!

    Loving your blog, Lee! I'm really tired of the prepared foods I got this week because I didn't have time to make anything after I got back from my trip and before starting work. Also, I had to return most of my vegan cookbooks to the library but they are coming back in this week so I'll be back in the kitchen (and posting about my recipes) soon! (I hope!)

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  5. PS Your serving bowl is gorgeous!!! I love old china :-)

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  6. Kathryn, this is about the easiest salad you can make. You can even make it with just cucumber if you don't like raw onion. It's really fresh!

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  7. Thanks! I actually *love* raw onion so this should be delicious. I got the ingredients ;-)

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  8. This is a standard for our We-Must-Work-to-Love-Salad household too. Though one thing that has really helped all of us with the traditional lettuce type thing is the House Dressing recipe from the restaurant Fresh's cookbook. Nice to have company lovin' cukes though... and it's the perfect time of year for it too!

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  9. Oh that's so funny, I actually have the Fresh restaurant cookbook home from the library right now! I'll check out the recipe for sure. I really love greens and I know I should eat more of them raw, I'm just not that attracted to traditional salads. Sigh.

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  10. I'm a salad lover here ;-) This looks phenomenal and like something my husband would love. He's a cucumber addict. This reminds m of a recipe we do from our Lebanese cookbook - lots of variations on the same general idea.

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  11. Chandra, I would love to get some more interesting salad ideas. My body has been asking for more raw veggies lately but my repertoire is severely limited in this area. Maybe I should do a post and ask for ideas!

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