Cucumber Salad with Herb Garlic Vinaigrette

Crisp Cucumber Salad with a tasty Herb & Garlic Vinaigrette is beautifully refreshing with a boost of flavour from the dressing. A terrifically versatile quick side salad that pairs with literally everything!

Cucumber Salad

Cucumber is probably one of my most consumed vegetables. They make an appearance in many of my salads – from Greek Salad and Ottolenghi’s Middle Eastern Chickpea Salad to epic Asian salads like Thai Beef Salad, exploding with spicy tangy lime flavours.

I serve them the classic South East Asian way – cut into wedges and served plain on the side of foods like Nasi Goreng (Indonesian Fried Rice) and Thai Fried Rice.

I cut them into sticks to serve with Hummus. And yep, I munch on them whole when I’m on the run!

So, it’s about time I started sharing some salads starring my favourite vegetable. 🙂 And here’s a classic one for you – a refreshing Cucumber Salad with a Herb & Garlic vinaigrette.

Herb & Garlic Dressing for Cucumber Salad

It’s a super simple side salad, as many of my Side Salads are (and should be, in my opinion!). The thing that makes this Cucumber Salad so tasty is a terrific Herb & Garlic Dressing which adds tang and flavour to the juicy, crisp cucumber.

Type of Cucumber to use

This Cucumber Salad works equally well with long cucumbers (Telegraph / English cucumbers) or the more common standard cucumbers (called Lebanese cucumbers in Australia).

The difference between the two is that the long cucumbers are not as watery / juicy inside so they have a slightly more intense cucumber flavour. It’s useful when you don’t want the natural juiciness of cucumbers to water down the flavour in a salad when you munch your way through it.

For this particular Cucumber Salad, either will work. Use 2 long ones, or 3 to 4 standard cucumbers.

How to make it

Nothing complicated on the making part of this Cucumber Salad – shake dressing in a jar (the best way to make dressings, a vigorous shake makes the vinegar and oil emulsify really well which makes the dressing thick and cling to the vegetables).

Slice cucumbers pretty thinly (not too thin, we want crispiness in this salad), then toss it all together.

You will find that the dressing doesn’t cling to cucumber as well as it does leafy greens. That’s just life – cucumbers are naturally slippery!

If you want a dressing to coat cucumber well, try this Creamy Cucumber Salad (with a tangy lemon yogurt dressing) or German Cucumber Salad.

What to serve with Cucumber Salad

Though this is a year round salad in my world, it is in particular a summer staple. It’s made for hot weather!! Think – BBQ’s, picnics and gatherings with friends.

Because it’s so refreshing, it pairs equally well with rich foods like roasts as much as it does lighter food like fish, prawns/shrimp and chicken dishes.

I particularly love serving it with salmon – in fact, after photographing it, I serve it on the side of this Honey Lemon Glazed Salmon! – Nagi x

Watch how to make it

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Cucumber Salad with Herb & Garlic Dressing (Vinaigrette)

Author: Nagi

Prep: 10 mins

Side Dish

Western

5 from 9 votes

Servings5 people

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Recipe video above. Crisp, juicy cucumber and a tasty Herb & Garlic Vinaigrette makes for a sensational salad!! It's refreshing with extra flavour from the dressing - I can eat SO MUCH of this!! A touch of mustard is key here - thickens the dressing to help it coat the cucumber slices.

Ingredients

• ▢ 3 cucumbers , standard (or 2 long Telegraph/English cucumber(Note 1)
• ▢ 1/2 red onion , finely diced

Herb & Garlic Dressing:

• ▢ 1 1/2 tbsp red wine vinegar (Note 2)
• ▢ 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• ▢ 1 garlic clove , minced
• ▢ 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
• ▢ 3/4 tsp mixed dried herbs (Note 3 sub)
• ▢ 1/2 tsp white sugar (optional)
• ▢ 1/2 tsp salt and black pepper , EACH

Instructions

• Shake Dressing in a jar.
• Cucumber: Trim ends then slice about 3 mm/ 1/8" thick.
• Place in bowl with red onion.
• Pour over Dressing, toss gently and serve immediately.

Recipe Notes:

1. Cucumber type - use 2 long cucumbers (Telegraph/English Cucumbers) or 3 medium standard cucumbers (called "Lebanese" cucumbers in Australia, these are the most common variety).

2. Red wine vinegar - a type of vinegar that is red in colour, also used in Greek Salad. Sub with white wine vinegar, champagne or sherry vinegar, or apple cider vinegar. If using normal white vinegar, reduce to 1 tbsp.

3. Mixed Herbs - sub or 1/4 tsp each basil or parsley, oregano and thyme (or other dried herbs of choice)

4. Nutrition per serving, assumes all Dressing consumed. Reality is that about 1/3 of it ends up in the bottom of the bowl - Dressing doesn't stick to cucumber as well as other vegetables.

Nutrition Information:

Calories: 110cal (6%)Carbohydrates: 7g (2%)Protein: 1g (2%)Fat: 9g (14%)Saturated Fat: 1g (6%)Sodium: 244mg (11%)Potassium: 283mg (8%)Fiber: 2g (8%)Sugar: 4g (4%)Vitamin A: 130IU (3%)Vitamin C: 8mg (10%)Calcium: 31mg (3%)Iron: 1mg (6%)

Keywords: Creamy Cucumber Salad, Dressing for cucumber salad

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