Recipe: Balsamic Cucumber Salad

One of my favorite things from my childhood is my mom's cucumber salad. Well I call it a salad. It was simply cucumbers, vinegar, oil, onions, salt and pepper, oh and water. I call it a salad you can call vinegar cucumbers. Doesn't matter, it was one of my all time favorites. Still is really. And the above pictured cucumbers were created in my desire to do something different with that cucumber salad. 

Different is good right?! Well in this case yes. Now I will admit when I first made it I wasn't too sure about it. In fact after I made the vinaigrette I dipped the cucumbers in it in order to make sure the dressing would work. Of course I couldn't tell. It tasted all right, different, but I wasn't sure my family would eat it, so I called in my husband and he dipped and ate. He wasn't sure either. At this point I was frustrated and ready to just say forget it. But then my 11 year old came in and I had him try it. He liked it. And then my 7 year old walked in and I asked him to try it. 

I knew that this would be the ultimate test because he can find problems with just about anything. And I knew if he liked it that it would pass the entire families test and could therefore be declared edible. I held my breath as he took a bite, waiting for him to spit it out. And when the spitting out did not happen I let out the breath I had been holding, declared it edible and doused the vegetables in the dressing. I had success!!

Balsamic Cucumber Salad

2 English Cucumbers, sliced 

1/2 Medium Red Onion thinly sliced

For this recipe you can peel your cucumbers before slicing or you could do like I did and leave some of the peel on. I used a garnishing tool in order to cut out some of the peel. Once you either peel or garnish the cucumbers cut them in half lengthwise and then slice. As thick or as thin as you like. Cut red onion in half and thinly slice. Place both in a medium size bowl. Now you can prepare the vinaigrette. 

Balsamic Vinaigrette

2 Tbsp. Red Wine Vinegar

7 Tbsp. Balsamic Vinegar

3-4 Tbsp. Olive Oil

1/2 tsp Kosher Salt

1/4 Tbsp. Dried Oregano

1/4 tsp. Ground Mustard

1/4 Tbsp. Dried Basil

2 Turns of Pepper Mill (Pepper to taste)

In a small bowl whisk together the above ingredients. And really that's it. Pour over cucumbers and onions, cover, and place in the fridge for at least an hour to allow the flavors to meld.

Before serving you could also add some tomatoes and sprinkle on some fresh parsley. And there you go, eat up!! Yo Ho!

Do you like cucumbers with vinegar? Do you have your own version of vinegar and cucumbers, share it here.

"Devouring worlds, one book and recipe at a time."