Asian Spiced Cucumber Salad

Asian Spiced Cucumber Salad with Sweet Onions and Cilantro

Perfect for Hot Summer Days

For a hot summer day, this easy to make Asian Spiced Cucumber Salad makes a great little side dish. It pairs fresh cucumbers with sweet onions and cilantro. The dressing sings with sesame oil, sesame seeds, and natural rice vinegar with a touch of spice from the red pepper flakes.

And, this salad compliments grilled meats, chicken, fish or your favorite stir-fry recipes. There are numerous variations for this salad. My recent inspiration to give it a try came from Kalyn's Kitchen . Kalyn has some great recipes, so give her site look-see!

Let's Try It!:-bd

Ingredients - salad:

• 4 medium cucumbers
• 1 large sweet onion, Maui Sweet Onions (check out this site) and Vidalia Sweet Onions work well. I used Maui.
• cilantro, packaged or a fresh bunch to be used just before serving

Directions:

1. Peel cucumbers in stripes, cut in half lengthwise & then cut into thick slices (you may want to remove large seeds, unless you like cucumber seeds...)
2. Peel onion & cut into thick slivers, about 1/4 inch
3. Combine cucumbers & onion, place into a sealable bowl or large Zip Lock type plastic bag

Ingredients - dressing:

• 1 c. natural rice vinegar, not seasoned
• 3 tbsp. granulated sugar
• 1 tbsp. toasted sesame oil
• 2 tsp. ground garlic (or crushed garlic)
• 2 tsp. sesame seeds
• 2 tsp. red pepper flakes (or to taste)
• fresh ground black pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Combine vinegar, sugar, sesame oil, garlic, & pepper flakes.
2. Pour dressing over cucumber/onion mixture. Lightly toss to coat.
3. Seal bowl or bag & marinate in refrigerator approximately 3 hours. Toss or flip bag occasionally to coat cucumber/onion mixture with dressing. (I used a Tupperware bowl, so I could just flip the bowl.)

To Serve:

1. Rinse cilantro, drain well, & chop.
2. Drain cucumber/onion mixture (save the dressing).
3. Combine the cucumber/onion mixture with the cilantro & season with ground pepper to taste. Lightly toss.

When serving, you can offer the dressing marinade as a side for those folks that like a little more dressing on their salads! That would be me! I just prepared this salad to go with Sesame Beef & Broccoli - Slow Cooker Style. There was minimal heat created in my kitchen for this tasty meal. Enjoy!:-bd

Enjoy! WildWSS outta here!