Crunchy Cucumber Salad

My niece has planted her first garden this year and is harvesting beautiful peppers, tomatoes, and cucumbers.

Remembering a tempting salad recipe I had seen in the June 1999 issue of Bon Appétit, I asked myself what would happen if some of her Cajun cucumbers met a tropical pineapple.  This salad—crunchy with cucumbers and carrots, spiced with jalapeño, and festive with the addition of pineapple—is refreshing and fun.  It’s a great addition to summer meals.

The original recipe, requested by a reader in the RSVP column of Bon Appétit, was part of the menu at Hi Ricky, a Thai restaurant (now closed) in Chicago.  The salad starts with creating a homemade seasoned vinegar.  Knowing the pineapple would provide natural sweetness to the salad, I used only one-third of the amount of sugar that Hi Ricky had recommended. To infuse the vinegar mixture with a bit of fire, I added a few slices of jalapeño before it chilled.  

As the vinegar cooled off in the refrigerator and picked up flavor from the pepper, I used the time to toast the sesame seeds and chop the pineapple.

While I trimmed and cut up a whole pineapple this time (and had lots left over), fresh pineapple chunks from the produce section of the grocery store work well, too.

Once the vinegar mixture had become cold, I strained the jalapeño from the it and added the pineapple chunks to the bowl.  Everything then went into the refrigerator to chill for about an hour.

As the pineapple marinated, I had time to dice and slice the vegetable components of the salad that go in last.  I used a few Persian cucumbers the first time I made the salad, but also had luck on other occasions with English cucumbers as well as the ones from my niece’s garden.  (When using a standard cucumber, I peeled it and removed the seeds before dicing.)  Wary of the red onion overpowering other flavors,  I used a bit less than the original recipe had called for and rinsed it in a sieve with cool water before using it.

We enjoyed this salad alongside grilled burgers and potatoes.  The vinegar definitely added a ribbon of heat to the taste of the salad, but the cool crunch of the vegetables and nutty flavor of the sesame seeds balanced everything out.  We were wowed by the fresh flavor that the varied components brought together.  Served over lettuce leaves, it was a bright accompaniment to our burgers fresh off the grill. 

This sweet and spicy salad that brings together the summer garden and the tropics will be in regular rotation at our picnics and potlucks.

Crunchy Cucumber Salad

Dawn Dobie

A sweet and spicy salad with bright, tropical flavors perfect for summer dining

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Prep Time 3 hours hrs

Cook Time 5 minutes mins

Total Time 3 hours hrs 5 minutes mins

Servings 6

Ingredients

  

For the vinegar:

• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2/3 cup white vinegar
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 jalapeno halved and cut into pieces

For the salad:

• 1 cup diced cored fresh pineapple cut into 1/3-inch pieces
• 4 persian cucumbers cut into 1/3-inch dice (about 2 cups total)
• 1 carrot peeled and cut into thin 1-inch matchstick-size strips
• 1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion
• 1 tablespoon finely minced seeded jalapeno

For serving:

• 4 cups of salad greens
• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds

Instructions

 

For vinegar:

• Combine sugar, vinegar, water, and salt in small saucepan. Bring to a boil, and then cook over medium heat for 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. 
• Transfer to large bowl and add jalapeno. Refrigerate until cold. Remove jalapeno from syrup.

For salad:

• Toast sesame seeds in dry skillet, stirring frequently, over medium heat until golden brown. Transfer to small bowl and set aside.
• Add chopped pineapple to chilled syrup and stir to coat pieces. Cover bowl and refrigerate for one hour.
• Rinse the thinly sliced red onion in a sieve under cool water. Drain.
• Add cucumber, carrot, red onion and minced jalapeno to pineapple, stirring to mix everything thoroughly.

For serving:

• Using a slotted spoon, place cucumber-pineapple mixture over salad greens and garnish with sesame seeds.

Notes

Vinegar can be made one day ahead. Salad is best chilled a bit before serving.

To reduce heat in salad, skip the addition of the jalapeno to cooling seasoned vinegar.

If using standard cucumbers with thicker skins, peel first and remove seeds before dicing.  English hothouse cucumbers also work for this salad, but don't need peeling.

Recipe adapted from Bon Appétit (June 1999)  httpss://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/cucumber-salad-with-pineapple-and-jalapeno-101688