Easy cucumber salad

I’m still on a quest to find salads I enjoy. Ironic, don’t you think, considering that I’ve practiced a vegetarian or vegan diet my whole life? A lot of people think that if you don’t eat meat, you must love salad. Let me be the first (or hundredth?) to tell you that that is pretty much a myth.

But let’s get back to the topic at hand, and let me tell you one ingredient that is guaranteed to make me swoon over a salad: fresh dill. It adds such a unique flavor that never overpowers, and it’s plentiful in the summer making it nearly always available to toss into whatever salad you’re making. Sure, I love other things in salad, too, but I will never grow tired of the tangy, faintly lemony taste that accompanies this bright green herb.

This is a super easy salad to throw together, and all you need to do is wait for it to chill.

Cucumber Salad
Based upon Adrienne’s Cucumber Salad found at Allrecipes.com

• 4 cucumbers, thinly sliced
• 1 small white onion, thinly sliced
• 1 cup white vinegar
• 1/2 cup water
• 3/4 cup white vegan sugar
• 1 tablespoon dried dill, or to taste, OR 3 tablespoons fresh dill, minced

If the cucumber skin seems too tough or thick, peel your cucumbers before slicing them.

Peeling and slicing cucumbers

Cut up your onion. If your onion is wider than it is tall, you can cut it in half, and then proceed to cut thin slices that look like half moons.

Slicing onions for cucumber salad

Combine the vinegar, water and vegan sugar in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir or whisk it occasionally as it is cooking, and then once it begins boiling take it off the heat.

Pour the sugar/vinegar mixture over the cucumbers and onions.

Adding the sugar/vinegar mixture to the cucumbers and onions

Add the dried or freshly chopped dill to the bowl of cucumbers and onions and mix everything together.

The magic ingredient - dill!

Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour to allow everything to marinate together, then serve. You can also make this a day or two in advance, and it will keep well.

Perfect for potluck or picnics!

I really thought this turned out great – and you’d never know that it didn’t have salt in it. I’ll also add this quick tip – if you’re making a regular lettuce salad and you need something tangy, just toss in a couple of spoonfuls of this, and you’ll be pretty impressed with the flavors it adds.

What is your favorite way to use dill?

Moroccan Lentil Salad

I don’t like salad, or perhaps it’s better said that I generally do not like salad. Sometimes the greens are too bitter or the tomatoes not how I like them (I prefer whole cherry or grape tomatoes, not diced tomatoes) or the dressing isn’t to my liking (no honey – or agave – mustard for me, thanks). But I do like it more when I can add more interesting flavors and textures like dill or kidney beans. Still, I would rather have potatoes or pasta over salad.

But I have decided that I am going to make an effort and try to make salads I can enjoy and maybe even love. I have added, for the first time, a category for Salad on Novel Eats, and I’m going to start filling it with recipes I try, and I’ll be honest if I like them or not.

This first salad is a result of a search I did the other day for lentil salad recipes. This one caught my eye because of the addition of spicy peppers and lime, and I actually like it pretty well. I do think it works better as a side rather than on its own, but its flavors are fresh and the colors beautiful. A good start to my self-imposed salad challenge.

Moroccan Lentil Salad
The original recipe can be found on Allrecipes.com

• 1/2 cup dry lentils
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 cup pre-cooked or 1 15-ounce can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 tomatoes, chopped
• 4 green onions, chopped
• 2 hot green chile peppers, seeded and minced
• 1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
• 1/2 yellow bell pepper, seeded and chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
• Salt to taste
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

Sort, rinse and then place lentils and water in a small to medium-sized pot. Bring water to boil, reduce to simmer. Cook for 30 minutes or until tender. Once it has finished cooking, drain and rinse with cold water.

Sorting dry lentils

In a medium to large-sized mixing bowl start combining your ingredients as you prepare them.

First, add your garbanzos. Normally I like to cook these at home, but I was lazy this time and just grabbed a can of organic. Make sure you drain and rinse them if you use a can (if you rinse, it will remove the excess salt it may have been packed with, reducing the sodium you’ll intake).

Organic garbanzo beans

Chop your tomatoes.

Chopping up a couple of tomatoes

Chop your green onions, making sure to discard any wilted or damaged parts.

Beautiful green onions get chopped

Chop your green, yellow and red peppers. You can use just one color if you prefer, but each has a subtle, yet unique flavor all its own.

Green pepper goes next

Just half of this one is needed, but you can do the whole thing, too, if you want

Then finally the red pepper

Juice a lime straight into the bowl with the other ingredients.

Quick tip – I don’t show this in the picture, but if you turn the lime the other way (upside down), you can squeeze more juice out of it more easily.

Juicing a lime

Chop up some fresh cilantro.

Chop fresh cilantro

Add the lentils to the bowl if you haven’t already, then about half a teaspoon to a teaspoon of salt and the olive oil.

Ready to mix

Stir well, then chill for about 20 minutes, as you want to serve it cold.

Ready to serve

This is great on the first day, but I found that if it sat overnight, it got really watery. Best to serve and eat on the day you make it, but it’s still good if you want to save it for later.

I would also say that I would probably want to add another chile or two just to increase the kick a bit, and if you’re wanting to save calories, you can skip out on the olive oil. I forgot to add it until the end, and it tasted just fine without it.

A bite full of flavor and color!

What is your favorite salad?