Cucumber Salad Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What does a cucumber salad contain? ›

This cucumber salad recipe features thinly sliced cucumbers, red onion, fresh dill, and a sweet and tangy vinegar dressing. Cooling and refreshing, this summer salad is a perfect BBQ or picnic side dish.

Happily, salting cucumbers requires only 20 minutes or so and virtually no effort: You just put them in a colander or strainer, toss them with a big pinch of salt or two — the exact quantity doesn't matter, since most of the salt will flow away with the liquid — and let osmosis do its thing.

Long English Cucumber

Long English Cucumbers have a good crunch with thin, delicate skin that's easy to digest. The best part: you don't even need to peel them—just slice 'em up and eat them as the perfect quick snack. This type of Cucumber is great in salads as well as a ton of other things, too!

Should you peel your cucumbers for cucumber salad? Again, it depends on the variety and maturity of the cucumber. English or Persian cucumbers have thin skins which you do not need to peel. Regular market cucumbers may have thicker peels that can be tough and bitter, so it's best to peel those.

Cucumbers contain upto 96% water content, which can keep you hydrated and meet daily needs. Getting enough water through fruits and vegetables ensures that cells get proper nutrition, you fight off exhaustion and stay energized through the day. Hence, cucumbers make for a good snacking option as well. Yes!

Marinate them: Marinating cucumbers can infuse them with a burst of flavour. Slice the cucumbers and place them in a bowl with a mixture of vinegar, lemon juice, olive oil, and your choice of herbs and spices. Allow the cucumbers to marinate in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

This salt treatment draws water out of the cucumbers and flavors them, so it's critically important. After layering or mixing in plenty of sea salt, I cover the salted cukes with ice cubes and a tea towel and forget about them for a few hours.

A cucumber's bitterness is caused by cucurbitacin, a bitter chemical that protects the plant from predators. Usually, cucurbitacin stays in the stem and leaves, but it can work its way into the fruit. A cucumber's bitterness is caused by cucurbitacin, a bitter chemical that protects the plant from predators.

When it comes to making the best cucumber salads, I find that unless you take the time to properly salt and drain the cukes, the end product is watery, limp, and less than tasty. This easy extra step makes extra crunchy slices, takes almost no effort at all, but gives a big payout in the crunch department.

Cucumbers are a type of edible plant that belongs to the gourd family. It's widely cultivated and makes a nutritious addition to any diet. Cucumber is usually considered a vegetable because of how it's used in the culinary world. However, as it grows from flowers and contains seeds, it's botanically a fruit.

Is eating cucumber salad healthy? ›

It's high in beneficial nutrients, as well as certain plant compounds and antioxidants that may help treat and even prevent some conditions. Cucumbers are also low in calories and contain a good amount of water and soluble fiber, making them ideal for promoting hydration and aiding in weight loss.

'Straight Eight' is an heirloom variety from 1935 that has stood the test of time thanks to its reliably great taste. Pick 'Straight Eight' when fruit is 2 to 4 inches long for pickling or harvest at 6 to 8 inches for fresh eating.

The compound tends to be concentrated at the ends. Hence you rub the ends, sprinkling the salt helps in extracting the white milky fluid that contains the cucurbitacins. By cutting off the ends of the cucumber you reduce the likelihood of getting the cucurbitacins to spread to the rest of the cucumber.

Can Dogs Have Cucumbers? Cucumbers are perfectly safe for dogs to eat, and offer a low-calorie, crunchy snack that many dogs love. Cucumbers only contain about 8 calories per one-half cup of slices, compared to the 40 calories in a single medium dog biscuit. Cucumbers are also very low in sodium and fat-free.

Cucumbers consist mostly of water, and they also contain important electrolytes. They can help prevent dehydration in hot weather or after a workout. For people who do not enjoy drinking water, adding cucumber and mint can make it more attractive.

Several bioactive compounds have been isolated from cucumber including cucurbitacins, cucumegastigmanes I and II, cucumerin A and B, vitexin, orientin, isoscoparin 2″-O-(6‴-(E)-p-coumaroyl) glucoside, apigenin 7-O-(6″-O-p-coumaroylglucoside) etc.

More than 70 aroma compounds have been identified in cucumber fruit, including aldehydes, alcohols, ketones, terpenes, esters, and furans, which all contribute to the typical flavor of cucumber fruits [2, 3]. Of these, C6 and C9 aldehydes and alcohols are the main compounds of cucumber flavor [4, 5].