Dear Husband Bob eats cucumbers with sour cream the way I drink gin with tonic: enthusiastically consuming both items in equal measure, oblivious to the judgment-filled stares of others. Drowning vegetables in full-fat dairy is a trick he learned from his mother, who appreciated the nutritional value of fresh veggies, but needed the paths of least resistance (Velveeta, butter, and cream of all varieties) to get her four kids to partake.
Now Bob is in his fifth decade, with a teeny cholesterol issue. I decided to turn his beloved cucumbers-n-cream into a healthier salad that is light, tasty, and appealing to mature palates.
I started by updating the cucumbers. English, or “hothouse,” cucumbers are my green gourds of choice because they contain fewer pesky seeds. Their skin is thin and tender, so you don’t have to brandish a peeler. (But do give your cucumbers a good rinse before slicing.) If your refrigerator contains only traditional cucumbers, take a few seconds to strip the bitter dark green peel. And to prevent the salad from becoming too watery, scrape the seeds away with a spoon. But if time is of the essence, and you have more to worry about than the moisture content of your cucumbers, leave the seeds and move on.
I chopped up two large cukes and tossed in a tablespoon of fresh dill and a handful of diced red onion for color and flavor. Instead of adding an obscene amount of sour cream, I stirred in only 1 tablespoon, plus an additional tablespoon of protein-rich, nonfat Greek yogurt. There was just enough zesty goodness to coat the cucumbers, without smothering them in fat.
Swapping half — or all, if you’re feeling very virtuous — of the sour cream with nonfat Greek yogurt is an easy trick that works with any no-cook cucumber salad recipe. But what if you need to make your cucumber salad entirely dairy-free? Say, if you’re vegan, lactose-intolerant, or simply serving your salad outside under the summer sun?
I started with a new bowl of cucumbers and diced red onion, and contemplated my personal Greatest Salad Hit List. Fattoush salad, a staple in Middle Eastern cuisine, is a celebration of fresh herbs, including mint and parsley. The mint offers fresh, crisp notes, while the savory parsley adds earthiness. Both would complement my neutral-tasting cucumbers.
Panzanella is an Italian bread salad made from delicious crusty white bread that is soaked in a bright vinaigrette. (Sure, there are some vegetables in there, too. But it’s the tangy bread that I crave.) Instead of adding Italian bread to my herb-kissed cucumbers, I embraced the Middle Eastern theme and threw in oven-baked whole-wheat pita strips instead. A single whole-wheat pita contains around 6 grams of plant-based protein. But if a gluten intolerance makes pita bread a non-starter, try adding nutty, roasted chickpeas as a crunchy, protein-filled treat.
While my dairy-free cucumber salad was full of flavors, both Bob and I felt it needed a dressing to pull it all together. I whisked freshly squeezed lemon juice with a dollop of hummus, and a bright, creamy dressing emerged. Feel free to add more lemon juice if you like to punch up your taste buds (and I do!). Or add more hummus if you prefer to emphasize the salty and savory. Then serve your cucumber salad as a side, or topped with grilled chicken or fish for a lean, healthy meal. Either way, you have an easy dish that stands up to the heat, and nostalgia.
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