Garden Recipe: Asian Cucumber Salad

Farmers market, neighborhood pea patch, your own garden, or the grocery market, where ever you procure your seasonal veg, this is the time for cucumbers!! What a lovely water filled and cooling vegetable for this time of the year.

3 Delicious Uses For Fresh Garden Cucumbers

1. Refreshing Cucumber Mint Water

2. A Simple Cucumber Salad For One

I love this easy and refreshing salad for a quick lunch or snack. You can easily scale it up for a crowd. Feel free to experiment with different herbs throughout the season to see how it brings out different flavors.

INGREDIENTS

1 cucumber, peeled and sliced
1 medium heirloom tomato, sliced
1/4 red onion, peeled and sliced thin
Drizzle of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 tbs Rice Vinegar
Small handful of fresh herbs (try basil, mint, parsley, dill or oregano)

Toss the cucumber, tomato slices and onion with the oil and vinegar. Arrange on a large platter and sprinkle with quality sea salt and pepper, and chopped fresh herbs if you like.

3. Asian Cucumber Salad

An easy weeknight recipe that pairs easily with rice and some panfried chicken thighs. Or bring this for an unexpected, but crowd pleasing side dish for a potluck or bbq.

INGREDIENTS

6 medium cucumbers (I like to use Persian or Japanese varieties)
1/2 tsp + 1 tsp Sea salt 
1 garlic clove, finely grated
1 tsp fresh finely grated ginger root
½ tsp toasted sesame oil
¼ cup tahini
1 tbs soy sauce
1 tbs rice vinegar
1 tbs white miso paste
2 scallions, thinly sliced on the bias
2 tbs of toasted sesame seeds

Remove the cucumber skins with a vegetable peeler, and then cut each in half. Removing the skins can make them easier to digest due to their high fiber content, and also improves the texture of this salad. Next, slice your cucumber using angled cuts about 1/2 inch wide. Sprinkle the cucumbers with ½ teaspoon sea salt and let sit in the refrigerator for a few hours. Drain any excess liquid pulled out by the salt before use.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine the remaining 1 tsp salt, garlic, ginger, sesame oil, tahini, soy sauce, rice vinegar and miso paste with the sliced and drained cucumbers until evenly coated throughout. Garnish your salad with scallions and sesame seeds. Enjoy!