This light and refreshing cucumber salad with plump sweet blackberries in a flavorful balsamic vinaigrette is the perfect side dish for almost any meal, and its simplicity makes this salad an easy recipe to enjoy on days when you don’t have a lot of time to spend in the kitchen. The crunchy cucumbers, juicy blackberries, and tangy dressing combine together to form an incredibly fresh flavor explosion.
After posting zucchini recipe after zucchini recipe after zucchini recipe, I think it’s time for at least one non-zucchini recipe, don’t you? Unfortunately, cucumbers aren’t all that much different from zucchini. They’re a fresh summer vegetable that always seems to be far too abundant, are made up of mostly water, and sadly most cucumbers don’t seem to have all that much flavor on their own. That’s where a quick-to-make balsamic vinaigrette and a handful of plump fresh blackberries come in handy. With this light and refreshing salad, you might not even care that you’re eating cucumbers for the twentieth day in a row. Heck, at least it’s a nice break from zucchini, right?
Ingredients:
- 1 Tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 Tablespoon Honey
- 2 Teaspoons of Balsamic Vinegar
- 1 Teaspoon Whole Yellow Mustard Seeds
- 1/4 Teaspoon Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
- 1/4 Teaspoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper
- 1/4 Teaspoon Onion Powder
- 3 to 4 Small Cucumbers
- Ground Sea Salt
- 1 Cup of Fresh Blackberries
Directions:
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the olive oil, honey, balsamic vinegar, mustard seeds, crushed red pepper flakes, black pepper, and onion powder; set aside.
- Peel the cucumbers and slice them in quarters lengthwise. Cut the seeds out with a sharp knife and discard them. Place the quarters on several layers of paper towels and sprinkle them with ground sea salt. Allow the cucumbers to rest for 15 minutes.
- Use a few paper towels to remove any moisture or excess salt from the cucumbers.
- Cut the cucumbers into bite-sized pieces and then add them to the vinaigrette. Mix to combine.
- Gently fold in the blackberries.
- Serve immediately.
Suggestions:
- I used four small-sized cucumbers for this recipe, which yielded approximately 2 1/2 cups of sliced cucumbers. I also peeled the cucumbers for this recipe. If you would like to leave the peel on, feel free to do so.
- Try using toasted onion powder in this recipe. It has so much more flavor than the untoasted variety.
- Make this salad right before you serve it or the cucumbers and blackberries will become soggy and the vinaigrette will become extremely watery. This is definitely not a make-ahead recipe.
Improvements:
- Replace the onion powder with a little bit of finely chopped red or yellow onion.
- Add 1/4 cup of crumbled feta to the salad.
- Replace the blackberries with strawberries or peaches.
- Serve this cucumber salad with these Grilled Lemon Pepper Marinated Chicken Tenders or these Tortilla Crusted Baked Marinated Pork Chops.
Ingredients:
- 1 Tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 Tablespoon Honey
- 2 Teaspoons of Balsamic Vinegar
- 1 Teaspoon Whole Yellow Mustard Seeds
- 1/4 Teaspoon Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
- 1/4 Teaspoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper
- 1/4 Teaspoon Onion Powder
- 3 to 4 Small Cucumbers
- Ground Sea Salt
- 1 Cup of Fresh Blackberries
Directions:
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the olive oil, honey, balsamic vinegar, mustard seeds, crushed red pepper flakes, black pepper, and onion powder; set aside.
- Peel the cucumbers and slice them in quarters lengthwise. Cut the seeds out with a sharp knife and discard them. Place the quarters on several layers of paper towels and sprinkle them with ground sea salt. Allow the cucumbers to rest for 15 minutes.
- Use a few paper towels to remove any moisture or excess salt from the cucumbers.
- Cut the cucumbers into bite-sized pieces and then add them to the vinaigrette. Mix to combine.
- Gently fold in the blackberries.
- Serve immediately.
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Tangy Chickpea & English Cucumber Salad
