Cucumber Salad

At the beginning of this month we had Dean's brother and sister-in-law, Kevin and Jo, visiting us from the UK.  Although most days we were out and about and my kitchen didn't get a whole lot of use (apart from the place with the big cold box called a fridge where the wine was kept!! :o), one night we did manage to get a wonderful Coho salmon on the BBQ (pop on over to my blog page and you'll see how we ended up with the salmon), and Jo made this wonderful cucumber salad that was the perfect accompaniment to the moist, flaky fish.  I made it again last night and although we still have about nine fillets of salmon in the freezer this time it went beside a fully loaded burger - just as nice :o)

Cucumber Salad

1 large 'English' cucumber
2-3 Tbs salt
6 Tbs olive oil
1 1/2 - 2 tsp herbs of choice (today I used parsley, chives and basil)
3 Tbs lemon juice
pinch of salt and pepper (to taste)

• using a mandolin if you have one, slice the cucumber as thinly as possible.
• placing a sieve over a bowl, layer the cucumber slices into the sieve, sprinkling with the salt between each layer.
• cool in the refrigerator for an hour until the cucumber slices have softened and released a lot of their liquid.
• rinse the slices really well and pat dry using paper towel;  return to the sieve over the bowl and leave in the fridge until you're ready to use.
• meanwhile, in a bowl or small lidded jar mix together the olive oil, herbs, lemon juice and any salt and pepper (to taste).
• once you're ready to serve, pour away any liquid that has accumulated in the bowl, pat the cucumber slices dry again with paper towel and returning them to the dry bowl, cover with the dressing and mix well.
• serve chilled.

 Cucumber Salad ingredients.

slice the cucumber using a mandolin if you have one.

you want the slices to be as thin as possible.

with a sieve over a bowl, layer the slices, sprinkling salt between each layer

while the cucumber slices are 'marinating' mix the dressing ingredients in a bowl, or what I find easier is to pop them all into a small jar, screw the lid on and....

...shake like mad :o)

you'll be surprised just how much liquid comes out of the slices while they're in the fridge.

after they've been in the fridge for an hour, rinse them thoroughly...

...and pat dry with paper towel; pop them back in the sieve over the bowl, and leave them in the fridge until you're ready to use.

pour away the liquid that have accumulated in the bowl and after patting dry once again, mix the cucumber slices with the dressing.

it was just the perfect light salad to go along with our fully loaded burgers.