Here’s the Creamy, Crunchy Cucumber Salad You Need to Make Tonight
Mastering a few easy salad dressings is a fast track to eating a lot more vegetables. Salad dressings are not hard to make, and homemade dressings taste much better than store-bought ones. Most homemade dressings are quick and easy, and you can make many of them with just a few pantry staples. If you’re looking to add a creamy dressing to your salad arsenal, check out the lemon-chive dressing on this cucumber salad.
You can use a base of either sour cream or Greek yogurt for this dressing. Whichever you choose, whisk it together with some mayonnaise, fresh chives and dill, lemon juice, and Dijon mustard. (If you use the sour cream, add some lemon zest too.) Add a bit of oregano, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and sugar to help balance the flavors. You can even use dried dill and chives, if you don’t have fresh herbs on hand.
Try the dressing on this crunchy cucumber salad with fresh sweet corn and some red bell pepper for color. It tastes fresh and creamy at the same time, and it’s a fantastic make-ahead side dish for any meal.
To keep the cucumbers crunchy, make sure to sweat them in advance to remove excess water so your salad does not wind up a watery mess. Put the sliced cucumbers in a salad spinner and sprinkle them with kosher salt. Let them sit for half an hour to an hour. The salt will draw out the excess liquid, and your cucumbers will be crisp and crunchy. Then give the salad spinner a spin to get rid of any extra liquid, pat the cucumbers dry with a paper towel, and toss the well-drained cucumbers with fresh corn and chopped red peppers.
Add enough of the dressing to fully coat the salad in a thin layer, then let the salad rest in the refrigerator for about half an hour. It might sound odd to let a salad rest, but this will let the flavors come together and give the cucumber some time to pick up those fantastic lemon dill flavors. You’ll be glad you waited.
Get the recipe: Creamy Cucumber Salad from Carlsbad Cravings
More Delicious Cucumber Salad Recipes from Kitchn
Kitchn’s Delicious Links column highlights recipes we’re excited about from the bloggers we love. Follow along every weekday as we post our favorites.