Dip Into Cucumbers…or Relish This Salad

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Veronica Lorson Fowler

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Photo Credit: Veronica Lorson Fowler

Just a few ingredients make a cooling cucumber salad that’s amazingly versatile. Serve it with everything – from burgers to chili to Indian takeout.

If you’re tired of your usual cucumber salad, add some variety by trying this cucumber-yogurt concoction that’s as refreshing as it is healthy. And it’s versatile: Chop the cucumbers into chunks, and you’ve got salad. Dice them finely, and you’ve got a great relish or dip to grace your table.

Think cucumbers and yogurt make a strange combination? While it may be something new to your plate, the mixture is a time-honored tradition in Mediterranean cultures and throughout the near East. There, plain, unsweetened yogurt with live, active cultures is often consumed daily. It’s often added to salads (as with this dish), or served alongside rich or highly flavored staples like stuffed cabbage, grilled lamb, shish kebabs and fried eggplant or zucchini. Its light, refreshing quality complements spicy or rich foods perfectly.

This recipe is a twist on a classic Indian dish – a relish combo of cucumber, mint, yogurt, cumin and hot pepper. It’s served in small bowls alongside dishes like the type just described.

My Americanized version has more cucumber, less yogurt. It’s a great summer side salad for almost anything you can think of – burgers, steaks, grilled or baked chicken, or anything barbequed. When my cucumber vines are producing and the mint is doing its usual rampage through my garden, I love to keep a bowlful in the fridge for a side salad with a sandwich at lunchtime or with whatever leftovers are hanging around. With its cool, soothing taste, it’s great as a side to chili, too.

I also like to whip up a batch if I’m doing Indian takeout, which tends to be pretty high in fat. I can fill up guiltlessly on this delicious salad, so that I eat less of the greasy stuff. How cool is that?

And when it’s party time – whether outdoor barbeque or holiday fling – the dip version is great on a platter surrounded by pita bread, pita chips or Indian flatbread wedges. It’s also delicious with raw veggies.

Facts

Yogurt really packs a punch of nutrition in this recipe. It’s a rich source of calcium and protein, as well as riboflavin and vitamin B12. Additionally, the cultures in yogurt are believed to improve your immune system and aid digestion. But the only way to get the latter benefits is to use yogurt with both “live” and “active” cultures.
To get the most nutrition from your cucumber, don’t peel that skin! In addition to fiber, cucumber skin has lots of minerals, including potassium and magnesium, and it’s loaded with vitamin C. (If you think the skin is too tough, just peel off alternating strips.)

Tips

This salad relies on the flavor of fresh mint. Don’t use dried – it simply doesn’t have the same spark. You can still make the salad year-round without paying high supermarket prices. Just freeze your own mint from the garden: Wash the leaves on the stems and let them dry thoroughly. Then strip them, chop them roughly, spread them out on a cookie sheet and put them in the freezer for a few hours. Once frozen, store in freezer bags until next spring’s mint is available again.
Pump up the flavor even more by grinding your own cumin. Toast whole cumin seeds in a dry skillet until they start to release their scent. Grind in a spice grinder or pestle.

Resources

Want to learn more about the fantastic cucumber (Cucumis sativus)? Visit Learn2Grow’s Plant Database.
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