This refreshingly easy mint and cucumber salad is the perfect accompaniment for summer picnics and grilled meats. It’s so easy that it can be on the table in three quick steps.
Step 1 – Salting the Cucumbers
Cucumbers are 96% water, making them an ideal salad vegetable for runners who lose a lot of liquid through sweat. They also contain a lot of potassium. Potassium, an electrolyte, and their huge water content make cucumbers a refreshing post-run snack, helping us rehydrate.
Salting the cucumbers is necessary for this mint and cucumber salad, even if it feels redundant. It not only seasons the cucumbers, helping to bring out their natural sweetness, but also enriches their flavour as salt draws out some of their water, giving them a firmer, meatier texture and a more intense sweet flavour.
It’s important to rinse your cucumber before serving, however, or you’ll end up with a salty, inedible salad.
Step 2 – The Dressing
The dressing resembles a basic vinaigrette but lacks a binding ingredient like mustard. Without it, the dressing will not stay together and you’ll need to shake it before serving. To make it, combine the lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil, black pepper, & oregano in a screw top bottle or jar. Shake before serving.
While it may be tempting to forego the dressing to save on the calories, I highly recommend trying it dressed with a deliciously sweet extra virgin olive oil. I’ve spoken to people who avoid olive oil as it’s high in calories and fats. However, the fats in olive oil are perfectly fine in moderation. It’s mostly made up of oleic acid. This monounsaturated fat is known for its anti-inflammatory properties and its benefits on heart health, helping to make the Mediterranean diet one of the healthiest in the world.
Dressing the Mint and Cucumber Salad
Red onion and mint complete this mint and cucumber salad. To make the salad, rinse the cucumbers and pat them dry. Toss the cucumbers with sliced red onions and chopped mint.
When ready to serve, toss the salad liberally with the dressing. As tempting as it is to dress the cucumber and mint salad in advance, it would be best to do it at the last minute. Dressing the salad too early will cause it to wilt and replace the firm, crunchy textures with a softer, mush-like feel.
Have you tried this salad? Let me know how it went with a comment!
Mint and Cucumber Salad
Ingredients
- 2 Cucumbers Deseeded, and Sliced Thinly
- 2 Tsp Salt
- ½ Red Onion Finely Chopped
- Juice of ½ Lemon
- 60 ml Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- ¼ Tsp Black Pepper
- ¼ Tsp Oregano
- 30 g Mint Leaves Sliced
Instructions
- Toss the deseeded cucumbers in salt and set aside for 20 minutes.
- After 20 minutes, rinse the salt off the cucumbers and pat them dry.
- Toss the cucumber, chopped mint leaves and red onion together.
- Mix the vinegar, oil, black pepper, and oregano in a separate bowl or bottle with a screw-top lid.
- Dress the cucumber and red onion, season to taste and serve.
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