To me, summer isn’t summer without making some sort of cucumber salad at least once a week. Truth be told, I’m a fair-weather cucumber lover. I only eat cucumbers in the summer months and honestly, I forget about them the rest of the year. However, fresh cucumbers when they’re in season…. Now that’s a different story.
This Creamy Cucumber Salad is crisp, cool, salty-sweet, and packed with the summery flavor of fresh dill. We made this salad with an English cucumber that we received in our CSA from Sower’s Purse Micro Farm. The cucumber we received was 16 inches long; still, Mr. EN and I had no trouble eating the entire salad, even though it technically makes “four servings”.
The Nutrition 411
This salad is…
- Light. Cucumbers contain only 16 calories per one cup sliced.
- A good source of protein and calcium from the Greek yogurt – which is far more nutritious than sour cream.
- Refined-sugar free! Many cucumber salads contain boatloads of sugar. Not this one. Only a tiny touch of pure Michigan honey.
- A great way to detox and quench your thirst at the same time – cucumbers are 90% water!
Prep Tips
- 2% fat yogurt works best. That little bit of extra fat helps the dressing hold together and the salad to stay creamier. Non-fat yogurt will work if you have it, it will just be more watery.
- Try garlic and a little red pepper for extra flavor. Sometimes I do this and sometimes I don’t; it depends on what mood I’m in. If you want to punch things up a bit add a clove of minced garlic and 1/8 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper.
- Use fresh dill if you can. Fresh dill tastes…well… more fresh. Don’t sweat if though if you can’t find fresh dill. Dried dillweed will work in a pinch. For this recipe if you’re subbing our dried for fresh, use about 1 teaspoon of dried dill weed.
I really hope you like this Creamy Cucumber Salad as much as we do. There are so many ways to eat it! Serve it alongside grilled meat or fish, pile it into it into a pita with some leftover chicken, use it as a base for freshly made tuna salad, ladle it over fresh greens (no salad dressing needed!), make a cucumber salad and tomato sandwich, or just eat it straight out of the fridge after a long bike ride (or a long day at work).
Are you ready to kick back and cool off with this Creamy Cucumber Salad? I’d love to know what you think of it.
Peace, love and good eats; from our empty nest to yours.
Trending in the EN Kitchen: Fresh Dill
Creamy Cucumber Salad with Greek Yogurt and Fresh Dill
Yield 4 servings
Ingredients
- 1-2 English cucumbers cut into slices (see Notes)
- ½ red onion, thinly sliced (see Step 1 below)
- ¾-1 cup 2% fat, plain Greek yogurt
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 2 teaspoons pure Michigan honey
- 1-2 tablespoons freshly chopped dill weed
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Optional – 1 clove crushed garlic
- Optional – 1/8 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
Instructions
- Place the onion slices in a bowl of ice water for ten minutes. Drain thoroughly and pat dry.
- In a small bowl, combine the yogurt, apple cider vinegar, honey, salt, pepper, and dill. If using, add the garlic and cayenne pepper. Stir to blend.
- Place the sliced cucumber and drained onion slices in a large bowl. Pour the yogurt dressing on top and gently fold to combine.
- Chill one hour before serving.
- Best if served within 24 hours.
Notes
You can make this recipe using any kind of cucumber. If using a standard cucumber (with lots of watery seeds inside) cut the cucumber in half lengthwise and use a spoon to scrape out the seeds. Discard the seeds and slice the rest of the cucumber.
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