Ginger-garlic cucumber salad

A fresh, simple cucumber salad with garlic, ginger, cilantro, onions and sesame oil. A light, healthy side for any Asian meal. Note: This post contains affiliate links.

This one is proof that the best dishes come together on a while with no planning (and no time). One night last week, my little Nutmeg begged me to make the “meatballs my cousin ate 10 of”. That would be Vietnamese pork meatballs that I use for banh mi. I made them last year for the girls’ family birthday party and my oldest niece, then 9, ate 10 of them. I needed a side and was hesitant to go with my last resort of potato chips. I had a ton of fresh veggies so I threw this together based on a recipe in Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi (can’t really go wrong with his stuff).

I have a few other recipes like this one – dishes that I threw together in an effort to get dinner on the table. In fact, the most popular post on my blog is one. My Asian red cabbage slaw continue to amaze me with its popularity. In reality it’s a delicious, easy way to get fresh vegetables on the table, much like this cucumber salad. I had a couple of beautiful big cucumbers and fresh onions from my CSA, along with cilantro, garlic and ginger. Oh so much better – and healthier – than potato chips!

And note well, this one gets better after a day or two. The cucumbers marinate in the dressing. I actually cut up another cucumber and threw it in the dressing after dinner and that was my lunch the next day.

Ginger-garlic cucumber salad

 

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Prep time

15 mins

Total time

15 mins

 

A fresh, simple cucumber salad with garlic, ginger, cilantro, onions and sesame oil. A light, healthy side for any Asian meal.

Author: adapted from Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi

Recipe type: Salad

Cuisine: Asian

Serves: 4 servings

Ingredients

Dressing

• 3 Tbsp. rice vinegar
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 2 Tbsp. canola oil
• 2 tsp. sesame oil

Salad

• 1 sweet onion, sliced
• 1 inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and sliced
• 1 tsp. Kosher salt
• 1 large clove garlic, peeled
• 1 large cucumber, peeled, seeded and sliced into half moons
• 1 Tsbp. black sesame seeds
• A small handful of fresh cilantro, chopped

Instructions

1. Whisk together the dressing ingredients in a medium bowl.
2. Add the onion and set aside.
3. With a mortar and pestle, mash the ginger with the salt to form a paste. Add the garlic and mash well. Add ginger-garlic mixture to the bowl with the onion and mix well.
4. Fold in the cucumbers, sesame seeds and cilantro. Let sit about 10 minutes before serving.
5. Adjust seasoning if needed.

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