On a hot summer day, make this perfectly easy, cool and refreshing creamy cucumber salad plus get some ideas for ways to extend the recipe and make more food and delicious recipes!
Ready to Beat the Heat? Creamy Cucumber Salad – 1 Recipe, 3 Meals/Ways
I love Cucumbers. They are the perfect summer veggie. Right now I have three huge cucumber bushes growing in my garden, that are flowering like crazy but have yet to produce anything that resembled a little green cuke.
At any rate, I went and grabbed some from the farmer’s market the other day so I could have my fix.
Cucumbers are so refreshing – chill a cucumber, slice it up and it makes a great cool snack for a hot day. That’s why I love this Creamy Cucumber Salad.
I don’t have to heat anything up, I use veggies straight out of my garden (okay, except this year since my cucumbers are being weird but the tomatoes are from my garden and so is the onion I used!)
Be sure and continue reading below the recipe for ways to change this up and extend the recipe beyond the normal Creamy Cucumber Salad.
Wondering how to do more with this recipe?
Before we get to the recipe, let’s talk about what things you can do with this delicious Creamy Cucumber Salad.
Don’t be afraid to make double or even triple batches so you have lots to play around with.
I want you to think outside the box for a moment.
Eating this Creamy Cucumber Salad the way I have described is only one way this delicious recipe can be enjoyed. And we do love it this way, don’t you dare get me wrong.
But, I also love to change up a recipe and/or stretch it beyond it’s simple roots. So how do I do this with this recipe?
A second way to enjoy it, is to layer the Creamy Cucumber Salad on slices of bread.
Top with another piece of bread and then slice into triangles and serve as little Cucumber Tea Sandwiches.
We usually slice the cherry tomatoes in half for this or even in thirds if it’s a larger tomato, or leave them out of the mix and slice up a whole fresh tomato to add to the sandwiches.
Delicious for an afternoon lunch, or even just a snack.
If you can stand a little heat (cooking wise), there’s a third way to enjoy this.
Boil some pasta noodles on the stove top, we usually use the tri color spiral pasta but you can honestly use whatever you have (spinach noodles are great in this). Drain the pasta and rinse with cold water chilling the noodles.
Add the Creamy Cucumber Salad and stir together. Chill for about a half hour or so. Serve for dinner, as a side dish or even with the tea sandwiches.
And just for good measure, I’m throwing in a fourth way.
This Creamy Cucumber Salad is a good… salad also.
Toss it with some lettuce or spinach leaves and you have an already made up dressing for your salad and you’ve added some extra veggies. Yum!
Do you do anything interesting with your Creamy Cucumber Salad or just enjoy it as is?
Creamy Cucumber Salad Recipe
Creamy Cucumber Salad {3+ Ways}
Ingredients
- 4 cucumbers sliced (we used seedless)
- 1 red onion thinly sliced
- 2 cups Cherry Tomatoes
- 2 Tablespoons Kosher salt
- 8 ounces sour cream
- 32 ounces plain greek yogurt
- 1 ½ Tablespoons white wine vinegar
- 2 teaspoons fresh ground pepper
- 2 teaspoons garlic minced, optional (sometimes we substitute garlic powder)
- ½ cups fresh dill minced
- 1 teaspoons salt or more (optional for flavor, as needed)
Instructions
- Slice the cucumbers and onions and toss them together in a bowl with the kosher salt. Put them in a strainer or colander and put that over a bowl. We cover it in plastic wrap or tinfoil and place the whole thing in the refrigerator for several hours (at least 3 but usually overnight) and allow the liquid to drain out of the onions and cucumbers.
- In the morning, throw out the collected liquid, rinse the remaining salt off the cucumbers and onions and pat dry to remove as much liquid as you can.
- If your yogurt is very liquidy you will want to do the same process with that using a yogurt strainer for several hours to remove as much liquid as you can. We use a greek yogurt which tends to be less liquidy than regular yogurt, so I don’t usually do that step.
- In a large bowl, mix the sour cream and yogurt together. Mix in the white wine vinegar, the fresh dill, the garlic, the pepper and the salt (if needed).
- Mix it all up well.
- Add in the cucumbers and onions and the cherry tomatoes (whole).
- Toss to coat them well. Refrigerate the bowl for about 2-4 hours to give the flavors time to blend. Serve chilled.
I’ve suggested this recipe to be used as a cool soup to a friend. I wonder how it would convert? I suggested taking the liquids after straining the yogurt and cukes and blending those with half of the veggies, like you would do with a creamy potato soup. I’ll have to try this soon.
Michelle that actually sounds really good and probably quite plausible. Food for thought. Let me know if you do it and how it turns out!
I have been waiting for this recipe. Because I knew it would be awesome. Pinned and sharing, my sweet friend. Because everyone needs cucumber salad in their lives. 😉
Great recipe! I love all the options, especially the tea sandwiches. It has been a long time since I have had one of those.
Wanted to stop by and tell you that I’ve nominated you for the addictive blog award!
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