Monday, June 23, 2008

Cucumber Salad

Sometimes less is more when it comes to food. Although I tend to gravitate towards recipes with multiple steps and various ingredients, there comes a time when you just want something simple, easy, and quick.

I almost hesitate to call this a salad, since it really is just a few ingredients. But despite the sparse ingredient list, this is a recipe that is big on flavor. It's also perfect for those last minute "I need something to go with this dish QUICKLY" situations too. And it's super-easy preparation lends itself to a myriad of variations. Switch the fresh herbs around or use Champagne vinegar instead of the rice wine vinegar. But no matter how you make it, you'll have this on the table in 5 minutes or so.

Cucumber Salad II

Cucumber Salad
Serves 3-4

2 seedless cucumbers, peeled and julienned
2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves, minced
1/8 tsp coarse kosher salt
Fresh pepper to taste

Place all ingredients in a medium bowl. Stir well with a large spoon and serve. (Does it get any easier??)

7 comments:

Maggie M. said...

Simple is always best with good ingredients - I'll be making this soon :)

Avory said...

Mmm, yes please! There have been tons of cukes at the farmer's market and I was wanting an idea for cold food that doesn't require tomatoes. This is great. I don't have rice wine vinegar, though. Maybe red wine vinegar would work.

jessy said...

this looks just wonderful! i had something similar at a sushi restaurant once - it was a seaweed salad topped with cucumber salad that was topped with some radish sprouts & black sesame seeds. it was quite tasty!

i can't wait to try out your recipe - it looks refreshing, simple, and awesome! thanks!

Anonymous said...

Lovely presentation. :) Looks yummy and refreshing.

Hygeian Stew said...

I love making combinations of this to add to a meal to bulk it up. It's so flexible, you can add a variety of vinegars to change the flavor to suit just about any meal. Thanks for posting!

Catherine said...

hmm...I love simple and cucumber salads. I particularly love our local thai places cucumber and red onion salad - I've come close to reproducing it, but it's actually quite challenging to get even a simple recipe just right. This ones sounds very refreshing.

Catherine said...

hmm...I love simple and cucumber salads. I particularly love our local thai places cucumber and red onion salad - I've come close to reproducing it, but it's actually quite challenging to get even a simple recipe just right. This ones sounds very refreshing.