Cucumber Salad with Dijon Vinegarette

By u101866

Ingredients

• 2 hot house or seedless cucumbers (about 1 1/2 pounds)
• Kosher salt
• 2 to 3 teaspoons granulated sugar, depending on how sweet you like the salad
• 1/4 cup (60 ml) cider vinegar, or distilled white vinegar
• 2 teaspoons Dijon-style mustard
• 1 medium red onion, thinly sliced (optional)

Preparation

Step 1

Slice cucumbers into 1/16-inch (1.5 mm) slices, toss with 2 teaspoons of salt then add to a colander. Drain for 30 minutes. (We like to leave the colander in the sink for easy clean-up).
Rinse cucumbers then squeeze excess water from them. (To make this easy, we add the cucumbers to a clean dish towel then tie it up and squeeze).

In a large bowl, whisk together 2 teaspoons of sugar, vinegar and mustard. Taste then add the additional teaspoon of sugar if needed. Add cucumbers and red onion then toss.
Refrigerate salad at least 1 hour and up to a day before serving.

Seedless cucumbers: You will often find seedless cucumbers sold wrapped in plastic. They have a thinner skin and are a little sweeter than regular cucumbers. Other names include English cucumber and hot house cucumber. If you cannot find these, buy regular cucumbers, but use a spoon to scoop out the seeds before slicing.

Variation - Add Lettuce: After marinating the cucumbers, you will notice quite a bit of liquid will be sitting at the bottom of the bowl. If you would like, transfer some of the liquid to a small bowl then whisk in 2 to 4 tablespoons of olive oil, making a salad dressing. Then, tear up lettuce leaves, toss with dressing and serve cucumbers on top.