Tzatziki Cucumber Salad
I generally make a quick cucumber salad with rice vinegar, a pinch of sugar, a pinch of salt and a dash of sesame oil. One of my “no recipe recipes.” But the other night while was marinating some chicken in Nando’s Peri Peri Sauce (from a large bottle that I picked up on a whim at Costco), I realized that the chicken was likely going to be too spicy for two out of three of my kids and they would need something to cool their palates. Cue yogurt sauce, a trick that Indians (a la raita) and Middle Easterners (in the form of tzatziki) have been using for centuries.
This Tzatziki Cucumber Salad is very loose, meaning you really can’t go wrong. You can make it entirely with yogurt, sour cream or with a combination of the two, as I did here. You can use the acidity of freshly squeezed lemon juice, lime or any variety of vinegar. The onion could be red (which I chose for color), sweet or left out entirely. And as far as the herbs, go crazy! I used dill but you could also use parsley, oregano, mint…you get the point.
These delicious cucumbers will now compete with my “go to” vinegar version for space at my table. I hope that you’ll be inspired to try them, as well. Enjoy!
Tzatziki Cucumber Salad
Ingredients
- 1 large English hothouse cucumber sliced into 1/4-inch rounds
- 1/4 red onion very thinly sliced
- kosher salt
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 1/4 cup low-fat greek yogurt
- 1/4 cup fresh dill chopped
- 2 Tbls white vinegar
- freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Put a colander in a bowl. Add the sliced cucumbers and red onion to the colander, sprinkle with 1 Tbls salt and toss until the salt is evenly distributed. Let stand at room temperature for at least 1 hour and up to 2 hours.
- Transfer the cucumbers and onions to a paper towel-lined baking sheet and pat them dry with another layer of paper towels.
- Whisk together the sour cream, dill, vinegar and a few cracks of black pepper in a medium bowl.
- Add the cucumbers and onions and toss until coated. Serve.