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Fresh cucumber salads: summer food. Video
In summer, it is best to prepare salads with fresh seasonal vegetables. For example, a cucumber will add freshness and juiciness to the salad; it goes well with various sauces, meat, fish, and other vegetables. In addition, fresh cucumber added to the dish significantly reduces its calorie content.
Cucumber salad with sour cream-mustard sauce
This is a traditional summer dish in French cuisine. The recipe itself is very simple, the charm is given by a well-chosen sauce with a slight hint of mustard pungency.
You will need: – 1 large cucumber; – a bunch of fresh basil; – 1/2 tbsp. medium fat sour cream; – 2 tbsp. French grain mustard; – 2 tsp. balsamic vinegar – salt.
If desired, sour cream can be replaced with natural yogurt without sugar and flavorings
Cut the cucumber into semicircles. Place it in a deep bowl. Add chopped basil and season with salt. Refrigerate for 20-30 minutes. In the meantime, prepare the sauce. Combine sour cream, mustard and vinegar until smooth. Before serving, season the salad with it and let the cucumbers stand in a cool place for another 10 minutes. Such a salad can become both an independent dish and an accompaniment to meat sausages or fried chicken.
This recipe uses traditional Iranian herbs – dill and mint, which give the salad a summer freshness.
You will need: – 2 cucumbers; – 1 tbsp. natural yogurt; – 20 walnuts; – a bunch of dill; – 2-3 sprigs of mint; – 3 tbsp. dark raisins; – salt and freshly ground black pepper.
You can use fresh sweet seedless grapes instead of raisins.
Cut the cucumbers into cubes without peeling. Chop the nuts, fry their kernels over medium heat in a frying pan without adding oil for 3-5 minutes. Cool to room temperature. Place the yogurt in a separate bowl. Chop mint and dill, mix with yogurt. Add raisins there. Season the sliced cucumbers with this sauce, add the nuts. Season with salt and pepper and stir. Leave it in the refrigerator for an hour. This salad is best served with a soft Uzbek flatbread baked in a tandoor.
Cucumber and ginger salad
This Asian-inspired salad is perfect for a light holiday dinner.
You will need: – 2 medium cucumbers; – a few sprigs of coriander; – 1 red onion; – 10 cm of ginger root; – 3 cloves of garlic; – 3 tbsp. sunflower oil; – 2 tbsp. rice vinegar; – 1 tbsp. sesame oil; – 2 tsp. sugar; – a pinch of salt.
Start by making the sauce. Peel and chop the garlic and place in a bowl. At the root of the ginger, cut the peel and finely chop it, fold over the garlic. Pour vinegar, sunflower and sesame oils to the spices, add sugar and salt. Mix thoroughly. Peel the onion and cut into half rings. Add to the rest of the food, stir again and refrigerate for an hour.
Cut the cucumbers into cubes, chop the coriander. Put these foods in a bowl with sauce, mix thoroughly and leave to marinate for another 10-20 minutes. Serve chilled salad. Boiled Japanese rice with soy sauce will be a good accompaniment to such a dish.