More Veggies, Please! 3 Cold Cucumber Salads

     Growing up in a Finnish-American family in Minnesota I ate lots of pickled cucumber salad, doncha know.  For you non-Nordic folk that would be thinly sliced cucumbers in vinegar-water with sugar, salt and pepper; chopped parsley or dill optional.  I've been making this simple salad for over thirty years but it's been only these last few years that I've realized other cultures have similar versions with their own unique additions.

     My husband has been the spur in my side (and sometimes a pain elsewhere), urging me to try new foods over the years, including Persian fare at a local restaurant.  When I finally gave in, I found many dishes I enjoyed, including another version of the cucumber salad to add to my repertoire.  Shirazi salad adds tomatoes to the mix, replaces lemon or lime juice as the acid and mint for the dill or parsley.  I went looking on-line for more versions of this simple salad and that's when I stumbled upon Smitten Kitchen's Mediterranean Pepper Salad, a delicious combination that added peppers to the veggie mix.  Click here to check out the delicious original pepper salad at Smitten Kitchen.  By the way there's a new Smitten Kitchen cookbook coming out soon!

    You may recall that Smitten Kitchen is responsible for my love of ratatouille.  This new-found love has in turn, led me to  include peppers, eggplant, zucchini and yellow summer squash in a variety of new ways and recipes for which I am eternally grateful!  You Weight Watchers can appreciate the idea of new no/low Point recipes and the added health benefits of more veggies!  I hope that you'll try these three versions of cold great-for-summer salads and find one that you'll enjoy and make your own.       

#1 Pickled Cucumber Salad

Ingredients: 

• 1-2 English cucumber or 2-3 medium cucumbers (thinner equals smaller seeds) 
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup white vinegar
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1-2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley or dill, optional

Putting it Together:

     Stir together above ingredients except for cucumbers and parsley; stir to dissolve sugar and salt; set aside.  If your cukes are waxed you should definitely peel them but if they're not you may want to make them a bit more decorative.  A Swedish friend taught me to drag a fork down the length of the cuke (rotate and drag til the cucumber is scored all around) before slicing.  Another option is to lightly peel down the length (rotate and continue all around) and make green and white stripes; both add a pretty touch.  Slice your cucumbers into thin coins, add them to the pickling water, stir and refrigerate (best if refrigerated for a few hours).  Sprinkle on chopped parsley or dill before serving.  

     When using 2 English cucumbers, Recipe Builder came up with a total of 6 Points.  Knowing from experience (and from my marinade experiment!) that most of the pickling solution (with the sugar) is leftover and not consumed I'm choosing to count this as 0 Points.    

#2 Shirazi Salad

Ingredients:

• 1-2 English cucumbers or 2-3 regular cucumbers (follow suggestions from previous recipe) 
• 2 medium tomatoes, cut into a a large dice (up to an inch) 
• 1 small sweet or red onion, cut into very thin strips  
• Fresh lime juice, about 2-3 tablespoons
• 1-2 teaspoons sugar 
• 1/2-1 teaspoon salt 
• 1/4-1/2 ground blacker pepper 
• 1 -2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro (could substitute parsley or mint)

Putting it Together:

     When I've eaten this at a restaurant, all the veg have been cut into a very small uniform dice, about 1/4 inch.  I like larger-sized veg so I cut my cucumbers into quarters lengthwise and then those into 1/2-1 inch wedges.  That's one of the things I like about this recipe - there's no wrong way to do it!  If I have only one tomato and several cukes - or vice versa- no problem!  What does work best is to chop and put your veg into a serving bowl; set aside while stirring together the juice and seasoning.  Pour the lime juice mixture over the veg, stir, sprinkle on chopped cilantro and chill before serving.

     Once again Recipe Builder came up with a recipe total of 6 Points.  If your recipe was divided into 12 servings, each serving would count as 0 Points.  With just the raw cucumbers, tomatoes and onion the total is 5 Points - go figure... 

# 3 Pepper Salad

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoons salt 
• Black pepper, freshly ground is best 
• 1 English or 2 regular cucumbers
• 1 large or 2 medium tomatoes
• 1 small red onion, diced into 1/2-1 inch pieces
• 2-3 bell peppers (a combination of green, red, yellow, orange - but all green is too harsh in my opinion)

Putting it Together:

     Combine the first four ingredients, stir to dissolve sugar and salt, add diced red onion and set aside.  Peel or score the cucumber(s) as in recipe #1 and cut into wedges as in recipe #2 and add to a large serving bowl.  Cut the tomato(es) into 1/2-1 inch pieces and add to cucumbers.  Cut the peppers into 1/2-1 inch pieces and add to bowl.  As with the Shirazi Salad the ratio of tomato-cucumber-peppers is up to you, what's in season or what's in your garden!  Sprinkle cut veg with salt and freshly ground black pepper, toss; pour over onion-vinegar mixture and toss again.  Cover and refrigerate for a few hours or as much time as you are able to allow.  When peppers are abundant and I've made a large amount and have leftover salad, I've served it over raw spinach the next day - veggies and dressing in one! 

     If your guess is 6 Points for the recipe total you would be correct!  According to Weight Watcher's Recipe Builder, this recipe would have to be divided into 13 servings to equal 0 Points per serving.  With Weight watchers a serving of vegetable is one half cup.  When cooking with fruits or vegetables I very rarely use a specific amount like 1 cup of diced tomato but rather a piece, such as one medium tomato, diced.  I do think this is typical with these foods.  In baking, measurements are precise.  When cooking proteins it is simple to weigh them raw or cooked.  If I put in specific measurements of vegetables in my recipes as opposed to a small or medium such-and-such, my Points totals on Recipe Builder could change.  It just isn't that important to me when raw fruits and vegetables are considered 0 Points to begin with and the recipe serving totals are so small anyway.  I have bigger battles to fight!

Pepper salad, sweet potato chips and a plain old grilled burger pocket.

     The Pepper Salad as a side with my Empanada burgers and couscous is just delightful; the pungent vinegar brings out and enhances the spices and flavors of the other dishes - it amazes me!  It is also a great accompaniment to tandoori-style chicken and pork kabobs marinated in cumin-garlic-lemon.  The Shirazi Salad seems to end up next to grilled and marinated flank steak or London Broil for some reason.  After serving Cucumber Salad with grilled teriyaki-style chicken for years I realized the pickled cabbage salad served at Asian restaurants is it's long-lost cousin.  Any of these salads would make an easy side to go along with good old burgers and dogs, too.  Whatever is on your menu, I hope you'll try -and enjoy! one of these cold salads with your next grilled dinner.