Servings: 8 Prep: 10 mins Cook: 0 mins Total: 30 mins
I’m not going to mislead you, dear friends. I find cucumbers as exciting as I find garden gnomes. They hold virtually nothing over me. I understand that they exist and that some people LOVE them, for a variety of reasons. I recognize the passion that can exist. Alas, I have no passion for cucumbers.
However, I run a recipe based website and I need to fill certain holes and use certain ingredients and appeal to the people that DO have a cucumber passion! This recipe is for those folks!
When I cook for the blog, because of all the lights and props and hoopla that goes into it, I usually cook between 10 and 15 dishes for that day. Amongst one of the best tests of a recipe’s tastiness lies in which of them do I gravitate towards, as they pile up on my coffee table. Which do I reach in and grab to snack on, as I work on the next dish in the queue. It’s usually a fairly mindless thing … I’ll walk by the table, reach in, grab and devour … whatever … usually the most indulgent thing. Without really realizing it, I found myself grabbing for THIS dish. Over and over, I’d reach in and pull out a few fingers full of limp and crispy cucumber slices, slightly sweetened from the fresh onions, slightly tart from the yoghurt and lime, and just chock full of fresh delight! Maybe I was just hot, maybe I was just full, but … for whatever reason, this combination of steps and ingredients caused this particular dish to rise to the top of the heap.
With a crispity crunch … YUM!
Ingredients
- 2 each english cucumber sliced into very thin rings
- 1 medium red onion very thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup greek yogurt plain and full fat
- 2 tbsp lime juice freshly squeezed
- 1/4 cup fresh mint leaves sliced thin
- salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste
Instructions
- Mix the ingredients in a bowl.
- Let it sit for about 20 minutes. This will soften it and the flavors will meld together, but the crunch will remain.
- Serve!
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* Learn More: More about this recipe and nutrition …
Ha! I must have been channeling you, because I made this the other night. Used scallions instead of red onion (because I had ’em), and added in some finely chopped garlic scapes (again, because I had em). The perfect accompaniment to jerked chicken!
—Reply posted by evelyn parsons on 3/12/2016
parsons what are garlic scapes?
Oh, Eric that sounds awesome! I need to use more garlic scapes. LOVE those things! 🙂
You can substitute radishes for this recipe! Both are Yum!
This is really good. Grilled some hamburgers using a homemade Cavanders Greek Seasoning. It went so well together. Summer on a plate. 🙂
Awesome, Sharon. Glad to hear it … especially in March! 😀
Helena, sub the cucumbers for radishes? Interesting!
When I see mint in a recipe, is it peppermint or spearmint? I want to grow some mint, but am not sure if it is speatmin or peppermint
Hi Bonnie, most of the time, if a recipe asks for fresh mint, they’re referring to spearmint. And, between spearmint and peppermint, I believe spearmint to be more neutral in terms of the types of foods it can match. So, if it were between those two, I’d pick spearmint, simply because it’s likely to be more useful to you. However, Peppermint is a bit more special and is fantastic in some sweets (I love it in ice cream!). <a href="http://pantrygardenherbs.com/shop-for-organic-herbs/mint-varieties/mint-about-the-different-varieties/" target="_blank">Here’s a link to a fun variety of mints</a>. Check it out and pick maybe 2 or 3 you’d enjoy playing with! 😀
Thank you for your honesty! I was desiring a salad using cucs and here it was! Looking forward to trying it as I do love cucs and zucs. I have enjoyed your recipes and am looking forward to the books. they are next on my list to purchase.
Perfect, Donna! Let me know what you think! 🙂
I love making cuke salad, as well. One suggestion… After slicing the cukes, salt them and let them drain for about 1 hour in a colander. Rinse off the salt and spin dry in a salad spinner or on paper towels. Mix all the ingredients and enjoy. The yogurt or sour cream will now stay thick and creamy.
Thanks for the tips, Anne! 🙂
If you really want to improve the flavor, salt the cucumbers and onions and let them sit in the refrigerator for a couple of hours. When you take them out, squeeze out the excess water and then add the dressing. It will allow the dressing to get into the Dukes and make them taste even better!
Luanne … just awesome. AWESOME suggestion!
Has anyone substituted chopped fennel, for the mint?
—Reply posted by DJ on 1/29/2015
I’m sure someone has! Are you referring to the little fronds, or the bulbs? I can actually envision some nice shaved fennel bulbs in with this. I think it’d be quite tasty! 🙂
I just use Mayo with lime and onions salt and pepper. Yum yum. Love it
—Reply posted by DJ on 1/29/2015
Thanks for the thought!
DJ, I can honestly say this is the first time I have heard the words “cucumber’ and “garden gnome” used in the same sentence. I’m not sure what this means, but I sense it is significant.
—Reply posted by DJ on 2/1/2015
The clues are all around. Good to see you’re paying attention! 😉
I grew up on a similar cucumber salad. Cukes, onions, mayo or miracle whip (mom was a fan of miracle whip), vinegar, and garlic pepper salt and some sugar. I just made it that way (with mayo) and used a pinch of pure stevia instead of sugar. Yummy!
—Reply posted by Jane on 3/16/2015
Not big on mint because I have acid reflux. I think dill would be an awesome substitute.
—Reply posted by DJ on 2/21/2015
Yep! There are loads of these kinds of salads. Try tossing some fresh herbs into it. I’ll bet some mint or tarragon would be fantastic.
Every time I see a cucumber in the future, I’ll think of a garden gnome. I’m a fan of the cucumber and onion mix with vinegar and oil. I add onion salt, garlic salt and black pepper. The secret ingredient is Accent. I fix a batch and eat on it until it’s gone. Sometimes I add tomatoes and/or bell pepper.
—Reply posted by DJ on 3/16/2015
YUM! 🙂
I ordered your book from Amazon. They sent 2,so I will return one. Looking forward to using some low carb gluten free recipes.
—Reply posted by DJ on 3/16/2015
YAY!!! Well that was nice of them … (and you!). Thank you for your honesty! Enjoy the recipes. Please let me know if you have any questions or comments along the way. Thanks!
DJ…I LOVE your recipes and I will be trying this one soon! I don’t know if you’re a fan of spicy Korean food but I wanted to share my recipe for Quick Cucumber Kimci with you. It’s another one of those sneaky recipes that everyone loves!
http://www.thekoreancouponer.com/quick-cucumber-kimchi
I hope you enjoy it and get a chance to try it out!
—Reply posted by DJ on 4/7/2015
I LOVE Kimchi! This also looks like a great recipe. Thank you! Someday, I really want to get into fermented foods. They’re all the rage and … it’s admittedly something I know little about. When I was a kid, a restaurant I worked at made its own sauerkraut, but I never really invested myself in the process. I just remember they would mix big buckets of cabbage and then set it in the basement. A while later … it was called Sauerkraut! I’m sure there’s more to the story. Someday, if you find me … I may very well have big jugs of spicy cabbage buried all over my yard. Someday … Thanks for sharing! 😀
Looks great, but is cucumber carb amount wrong? Seems really high and shouldn’tthere be fiber in them? Thanks!
—Reply posted by DJ on 4/30/2015
Hi Christina, I agree with you, completely. The problem is … near as I can tell, the nutrition facts I’ve been able to find for this cucumber are seemingly incomplete. There are very rare instances where I find information that looks or feels wrong to me, but is echoed elsewhere. It’s difficult to know what to do, so I also echo it, for better or for worse. I remember having a big conversation about this a while back and several people went on a search for more accurate info and everyone agreed that … this is what can be found, but also agreed it feels wrong. Maybe someone has done a more thorough examination of this cucumber since that last search, but … this is the best information that seemed to exist when the recipe was written. Between you and I … it’s got to have some fiber in it. Look at other cucumbers to find a similar range of fiber (or any melon, really … ). It won’t be precise, but it’ll be a whole lot closer than “zero”. I hope this helps explain some things! :/
I love the combination of lime, mint and yogurt so I will try it. I have been making a variation of this salad for years now. Here it is: I grate the cucumber instead of slice it. I use real mayonnaise or low fat mayonnaise, dried dill weed, lots of it, salt, pepper, onion powder and garlic powder and of course fresh black pepper. It’s great accompaniment to most meals. Cucumber has such a mild flavour that you can turn it Italian with Italian spice, middle east with cumin, or Indian with turmeric, or Mexican with Mexican chili powder.
—Reply posted by DJ on 3/16/2016
Yep! That little bit of salt is a really good idea. Helps to eliminate the pools of liquid. I’m not sure why I didn’t do it that way. Great tip! 🙂
—Reply posted by Roz Weitzman on 3/11/2016
Forgot to say that I very lightly salt the grated cucumber in a colander and let it rest a little before squeezing out the excess water before adding ingredients.
I am so not a good cook! I hate to cook but my husband and I are diabetics so I must cook something. I got your new book and it is great, but I won’t do recipes with lots of ingredients. Anywhere I can get simple, limited ingredient recipes to try to cook for us?
I am so not a good cook! I hate to cook but my husband and I are diabetics so I must cook something. I got your new book and it is great, but I won’t do recipes with lots of ingredients. Anywhere I can get simple, limited ingredient recipes to try to cook for us?
—Reply posted by DJ on 6/3/2016
Hi Cathy,
Sorry for the delay. It’s been a busy time. Thank you for the kind words about my book! In terms of more simple recipes, I can’t think of a single source of low-carb simple recipes. I can think of some general minimal number of ingredients authors, such as Rozanne Gold, but I can’t think of anyone (offhand) that does it in the Paleo/Keto/Primal/Low-Carb space … I consider most of my recipes to be fairly simple, but I can see how my approach to writing can be a bit wordy … making it seem like the recipes are more involved than that are. It does sound like you’re getting some use from it, which is great. In any event … just search for simple low-carb recipes on the internet and start building a collection of favorites. It’s probably my best suggestion. I hope it helps! 😀