Creamy Cucumber Salad

I have been obsessed with this salad lately! It's great with just cucumber (typically it has thinly sliced onions in it but D doesn't like that so I just do cukes) or a mix of halved cherry tomatoes and slices or chunks of cucumber - and it's the inspiration for the cuke and chickpea salad I made last week (click here for that post).  I've never been a big cucumber lover but this salad is sort of like creamy pickles so I'm a huge fan.

• 2 cucumbers, peeled and thinly sliced (sometimes I leave them in chunks, your call)
• 1 tablespoon sea salt
• 1 1/2 cups mayonnaise (or to taste, I don't usually use this much. and sometimes I use half plain greek yogurt and half mayo)
• 2 tablespoons vinegar
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 1 teaspoon dried dill weed
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper

Mix cucumbers and salt together in a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 30 minutes.

Turn cucumbers into a colander set in the sink and let drain, stirring occasionally, until most of the liquid has drained, about 30 minutes more. Transfer drained cucumbers to a large bowl.

Stir mayo, vinegar, sugar, dill, garlic powder, and pepper together in a bowl until smooth; pour over the cucumbers and stir to coat with the dressing.

Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 2 hours. 

grilled chicken, cucumber salad, and my go-to side of black beans, corn, tomatoes,
and avocado with a little olive oil and southwestern seasoning mix. Yum. 

Two-Bean Salad with Mustard Vinaigrette

2 garlic cloves

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup red wine vinegar or cider vinegar

1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard

1/2 teaspoon pepper

3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1/2 pound haricots verts, roughly chopped

3 ribs celery with leaves, chopped

3 carrots, chopped

1 yellow bell pepper, chopped

1/2 red onion, chopped

1 tomato, chopped

1 jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped

1 1/2 cups fresh corn kernels (about 2 ears)

1. Mash garlic and salt using a mortar and pestle or small bowl and wooden spoon. Transfer to a medium bowl and whisk in vinegar, mustard, and pepper. Add olive oil in a thin stream, whisking continuously.

2. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil; blanch haricots verts until crisp-tender, 2 to 4 minutes. Drain and shock in a large bowl of cold water.

3. In a large bowl, mix haricots verts with remaining ingredients. Drizzle vinaigrette over salad and toss. 

10 servings. Per serving: 422 calories, 3g protein, 41g fat, 15g carb, 291mg sodium

My notes: I did not mash garlic and salt, just used a teaspoon of chopped garlic instead. I made the dressing in my cruet thing that has lines on the side for vinegar and oil - just put in all the ingredients and shake it up. I left out the bell peppers, onion and jalapeño and didn't miss them. This has lots of flavor with all the other veggies, salt and pepper. I bought haricots verts (small thin green beans) in a microwavable bag, cooked them for 2 minutes and then ran under cold water. Lastly, I used frozen corn and it worked just fine. Canned corn kernels would be softer and not add the crunch like fresh or frozen.