My favorite grocery store is finally starting to get some really good produce in.
In the last week we have had snow peas, radishes, romaine, red leaf lettuce and broccoli. The guy who runs the store is a rather nice looking fellow, even if he does favor somewhat odd looking costumes at times [cutoff shorts, old work boots with white socks and a straw cowboy hat] and he saves all his best stuff for me. You know who I mean, right? That guy I married? The guy who decided we needed another 100 square feet added to the already huge garden, but who ran out of room anyway? The one who will plague my life later in the summer with endless buckets of vegetables that need to be put up for next winter? Anyway, this past weekend, we got the first cucumbers – these lovely burpless, or English type cukes. So, I had to make our favorite cucumber salad.
This is one of my usual flexible recipes. You can expand it to feed more people and adjust the dressing components to suit your taste, but the basic ingredients are cucumbers, onion and fresh dill.
We’ll start with the dressing – the amounts are approximations rather than hard and fast amounts.
1/2 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1/4 cup good cider vinegar [I like Braggs]
5 or 6 sprigs of dill – the ferny side shoots, coarsely chopped
2 teaspoons sugar
1 small garlic clove mashed to a paste
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
About 10 grinds of pepper – 5 peppercorn blend here
Mix that all together in a medium sized mixing bowl.
Wash 3 medium cucumbers, and cut into fairly thin slices. Cut 1 small spring onion [1/4 cup white or yellow regular onion – a sweet one like a Vidalia would be good] into thin strips, along with several inches of the green tops.
Stir gently into the dressing. Chill several hours to blend flavors. We actually like it even better the next day – the cukes really soak up the flavors from the dressing and wilt just a bit, which is very nice. To serve, put in a nice bowl and top with a bit more chopped green onion.
If you don’t have a gigantic garden in your back yard, check out your local farmer’s market or a roadside vegetable stand. You will get better, probably cheaper food and you’ll be supporting your local economy a bit as well. Enjoy!
Looks yummy Donalyn. I just bought some fresh cukes at the market yesterday and made cucumber salad last night. The farmer I bought mine from was not as handsome as the one you spoke about. Oh well!!
Fresh, home grown veggies! They look wonderful! So nice to be on “the farmer’s” good side so you get the best stuff!
Your photos are just amazing! Recipes looks delicious.
We will have a lot of cucumbers in our garden soon. I will be sure to try this recipe out. I love seeing the photos of the fresh vegetables.
Makes my little old tuna sammich look kinda dull. Maybe tommorow – you deliver, right?
I love English cucumbers and this recipe looks fantastic. I think my supplier already has them in the grocery store out back, too. And no cut-off shorts or cowboy hats. Darnit!
wow-looks so good.
i am thinking about how a soup might be made from similar ingredients-?
yum – I love just slice cukes in vinegar too
LOL Shirley – come on out and we’ll be sure that you get some :) Delivered in person even!
Sheila – I guess we do deliver.
Trishe, Sherri and Dave – thanks!
Kate – I’ll send you the hat if you like ;)
susan – that does start the gears turning, doesn’t it?
Charlane – I’ll have another couple cuke recipes over the summer – at least one in vinegar, I promise.
I so love cucumbers! That looks delish!!!!
This is a summer fav here. I hope our market has cukes this week.
I’m so jealous. Next year I am going to have a garden. What a great summer dish!
SU for you :)
Yum! That looks like a great summer side dish… Definitely want to try that one!
I tried the salad last night for dinner, but added some lemon and shallots (instead of onions) because I had them on hand. It was great! Thanks!
Thanks for the Stumble Kristen – always appreciate those!
Hope you love it Sarah.
Stephanie – sound yummy – will try that variation. If I can fit it in – it’s not like we eat cukes every day or anything. ;)
I just discovered your site off TasteSpotting.com about two weeks ago. I’ve since made four recipes and love them all (including this one). I’m not a natural cook and your process is very intuitive and easy for me, so there’s hope! Thanks so much for posting, and for your photography/garden observations. It sounds like you’re in/around Ithaca, where I went to school 15 years ago, so it’s lovely to see the landscape too.
Christine: Thanks so much for your kind comments. It is very much appreciated and I could not be more thrilled that you are finding success in the kitchen. The more you cook the easier it gets!
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Oh I love this time when the real good stuff starts showing up at the grocery store! Yummy veg!
this looks delicious, herby, crunchy and refreshing. Perfect!
Great recipe with cucumbers. I’ve always loved cucumber salads because it is so refreshing. Great dish to be served side by side with a curry or some Indian food.
Love love love this idea. To me there is nothing better than cucumbers and dill in the summer time. This will definitely be on my list of recipes to try. Now if only I had my own garden…I am going to need to work on that.
I made this and it was so good!!! I did make it a little lighter by using light sour cream and mayo. I’m going to make it again tonight! Thanks for the recipe!
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OMG!
I do realize it’s been awhile since any comments have been added, but I feel the need to tell you that I’ve been making this recipe for years! It’s so delicious and it’s my go-to recipe! Thank you!