We got a surprise cucumber in our produce basket last week. Normally I wouldn't worry about it because cucumbers and bell peppers were the Kidlets main school snacks for several years. But she seems to have gone off them lately. So the cucumber was going begging and I needed to find a use for it.

Enter this delightlfully low-effort cucumber salad. Just toss everything in a bowl and let it sit for half an hour. Boom! Done.

Thai Cucumber Salad

Slightly adapted from Vegetable of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 1/3 c. rice vinegar
• 1 1/2 Tbsp. sugar
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/8 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 1/2 small red onion (or 1/4 large), thinly sliced
• 1 English cucumber, sliced into 1cm thick discs
• 1 fresh chile¹, thinly sliced
• 1/2 c. chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/4 c. roasted unsalted peanuts², chopped

Directions

1. Combine vinegar, sugar, salt, and pepper in a small pot and bring to a boil.
2. Cook for 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
3. Add onion to vinegar mixture and allow to cool.
4. Pour vinegar mixture over cucumber slices.
5. Add chile and toss to combine.
6. Set aside for at least 30 minutes.
7. Stir in cilantro and peanuts and serve.

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¹ The recipe calls for a jalapeño, but I thought that a Thai or finger chile would go better and I already had a bunch of those on hand, so that's what I went with. I think either a red or green Thai, cayenne, serrano, or finger chile would work here. (Or a jalapeño in a pinch, I guess.) Use whatever you've got. ^Back
2 The recipe only calls for 2 Tbsp. of peanuts and that's what we used when we made this. That said, I feel that it would have benefitted from more peanuts, so I've upped the quantity here. ^Back