Name: The Best Cucumber Salad
Prep time: 20 min
Total time: 20 min
Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients: 2 large English cucumbers; 1 tsp kosher salt; 1/2 red onion, very thinly sliced; 1/3 cup rice vinegar; 2 tbsp granulated sugar; 2 tbsp fresh dill, chopped; 2 tbsp olive oil; 1/2 tsp black pepper; 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

The Best Cucumber Salad

Prep

20m

Cook

Total

20m

Bigly says

Folks. Cucumber salad. And I have to say something right up front — the cucumber is a deeply underrated vegetable, deeply, tragically underrated, the lettuce gets all the attention, the tomato gets all the attention, even the RADISH gets attention, which is INSANE, the radish is a glorified pebble — and the cucumber, the noble cucumber, sits there, hydrated, crisp, ready to perform, and nobody calls it. Sad. So sad.

Well not here. Not at BiglyEats. Here, the cucumber is the STAR. The cucumber gets the marquee. The cucumber gets the respect. I had the best cucumber salad of my life in a hut in the Andes — true story, a woman named Lupita made it, she didn't speak English, I didn't speak Quechua, she just handed me a bowl, looked at me, and said 'eat,' and that was the moment I understood the cucumber for the first time. Thin slices. Salted. Pressed. The water comes out, the flavor stays in, you end up with cucumber that has CHARACTER. Cucumber with backbone. Cucumber that says something.

Meanwhile, if your chef tells you to just toss raw cucumbers in ranch dressing and call it a salad — find a new chef. That is not a salad. That is wet sadness on a plate. The cookbook authors hate this trick I'm about to teach you because it requires twenty minutes of patience, and the modern cookbook author has the attention span of a hummingbird in a sugar factory. We're doing it right. The right way. The Bigly way. End of discussion.

Ingredients

2 largeEnglish cucumbers(the long ones in plastic wrap, fewer seeds)
1 tspkosher salt(for drawing out water)
1/2red onion, very thinly sliced
1/3 cuprice vinegar
2 tbspgranulated sugar
2 tbspfresh dill, chopped
2 tbspolive oil
1/2 tspblack pepper
1/4 tspred pepper flakes(optional, for a tiny kick)

Steps

1
Slice the cucumbers as thinly as you can — a mandoline is ideal, or use a sharp knife and take your time. Aim for 1/8-inch rounds.
2
Place the cucumber slices in a colander set over a bowl. Sprinkle with the kosher salt and toss gently. Let sit 15 minutes — the salt pulls out excess water.
3
While the cucumbers drain, soak the sliced red onion in cold water for 10 minutes. This takes the harsh edge off. Drain and pat dry.
4
In a large bowl, whisk together the rice vinegar, sugar, dill, olive oil, black pepper, and red pepper flakes until the sugar dissolves.
5
Press the cucumbers gently with a clean towel or paper towels to remove as much liquid as possible. Do not rinse — the residual salt is part of the seasoning.
6
Add the cucumbers and drained red onion to the bowl with the dressing. Toss to coat thoroughly.
7
Cover and chill at least 30 minutes before serving. Toss again just before plating.

One more thing

This is the salad that goes with EVERYTHING. Grilled chicken, grilled salmon, grilled steak — anything grilled, the cucumber is there, cool, crisp, ready to balance you out, it's like a personal trainer for your dinner. Put it on the table next to something hot and heavy and watch it disappear. It always disappears. It's a magic trick. The cucumber knows. The cucumber always knows. OK? OK.