Classic Cucumber Salad

serves 4 as a side

3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
½ teaspoon coarse (kosher) salt, or more to taste
¼ teaspoon sugar, or more to taste
1 hothouse, unpeeled, cut into 1/8 inch-thick slices (about 2 cups)**
½ red onion, cut in half through the stem end and sliced very thinly crosswise

Place vinegar, salt, and sugar in a medium-size bowl and stir until the salt and sugar dissolve. Taste for seasoning, adding more salt and/or sugar as needed.
Add the cucumber and onion to the vinegar mixture and toss to coat. If you are not planning on seving the salad immediately, it can be refrigerated, covered, for up to 3 days.

Variation: For an Asian accent, substitute unseasoned rice wine vinegar for the white wine vinegar and stir in ½ teaspoon of toasted sesame seed oil. Before serving, garnish the cucumbers with 2 teaspoons of toasted sesame seeds.

**substitute either pickling or slicing cucumbers for hothouse cukes, as many as you need for 2 cups sliced cucumbers.

August 16th, 2011

Cucumber Salad

3 large cucumbers, peeled and sliced

1 cup white vinegar

3/4 cup water

3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp salt

dash cayenne pepper

dash parsley flakes, fresh or dried

1/8 tsp black pepper

dash of basil, fresh or dried

Combine all ingredients except cucumbers; heat until sugar melts. Pour warm mixture over cucumbers. Store covered in refrigerator.

July 7th, 2010

Fennel and Cucumber Salad with Ginger Dressing

from The Vegan Cook’s Bible

1 Cucumber

1/2 Fennel or Kohlrabi bulb

1/2 red onion

Ginger Dressing

2 tbls oil

2 tbls rice vinegar

1 tbls tamari or soy sauce

2 tsp fresh grated ginger

1 tsp sugar

1/4 tsp hot pepper flakes

Using a mandoline or food processor slice cucumber and fennel very thin. Let stand in a colander to drain. Thinly slice red onion by hand.

Dressing: In a salad bowl whisk together the oil, vinegar, soy sauce, ginger, sugar, and hot pepper flakes. Add cucumber, onion, and fennel and toss well to coat.

July 7th, 2010

Cucumbers with Arugula Caper Dressing

Moosewood Restaurant New Classics

3 cups cucumber crescents

Arugula Caper Dressing

2 tbls apple cider vinegar or white balsamic vinegar

1 cup fresh arugula leaves

1 tbls capers, rinsed

1/3 cup olive oil

Place the cucumbers in a serving bowl and set aside. Put the bread in a separate bowl, pour the vinegar over it and let soak for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile place the arugula, capers, and olive oil in a blender. With your hands, gently squeeze the excess vinegar from the soaked bread and add the bread to the blender. Blend on high until the dressing is uniformly colored and very smooth, about 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the blender if necessary.

Add about half of the dressing to the cucumbers and stir gently to evenly coat. Serve chilled.

June 18th, 2010