Smitten Kitchen’s Avocado-Cucumber Salad ♥

Smitten Kitchen's Avocado-Cucumber Salad ♥ AVeggieVenture.com, addictively good, so many variations. Low Carb. Gluten Free.
An easy and adaptable salad to make again and again, so many variations yet grounded by the terrific combination of crisp cucumber and soft avocado bound by a light, creamy dressing spiked with a touch of hot sauce. Positively addictive!

A Summer Classic. Weeknight Easy, Weekend Special. Naturally Low Carb. Gluten Free. Vegetarian. Great Choice for Meatless Monday! Scales from Small Plates to Large Platters.


Can One Recipe Cause A Nationwide Rush for Avocados?

So I always wonder, when a recipe goes viral, do grocers notice? I-am-SO-betting there's been a run on cucumbers and avocados since the day Smitten Kitchen shared this recipe for what blogger Deb Perelman calls "obsessively good avocado cucumber salad". She's right. Let's count, just me, I made the salad seven times, one with an on-hand cucumber, six more with cucumber three-somes from Sam's Club. So yeah. I'm smitten. Am I obsessed? Uh maybe?

Luckily, the object of this obsession isn't something sugar-butter-flour-laden. I've strayed – not far, but still, finding my own path – from Smitten Kitchen's original combination.

Three things are essential: chunks of crisp thin-skinned cucumbers plus cubes of soft but not mushy avocado plus a creamy make-it-how-you-like-it dressing. Smitten Kitchen likes the dressing drizzled over the chunks of vegetables, I like it all tossed together. A little onion is important, so is a good grind of pepper. I find myself adding "stuff" to the salad, all the while maintaining a one:one balance between the "crisp" of cucumber and the "soft" of avocado.

And, hey, take advantage of early May's glut of avocados!

BEST RECIPES!

Smitten Kitchen's Avocado-Cucumber Salad made the list!
Best Everyday Vegetable Recipes of 2015





SMITTEN KITCHEN'S AVOCADO-CUCUMBER SALAD

Hands-on time: 10 minutes
Time to table: 10 minutes
Serves 4

VEGETABLES
1 English cucumber, quartered lengthwise then cut in half-inch chunks
1 green onion, chopped
1 avocado, cubed

DRESSING
2 tablespoons 0% Greek yogurt
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 tablespoon buttermilk to thin the dressing, optional
Zest & juice of a lemon or lime
Sriracha or another hot sauce to taste (be a little generous!)
Pepper & salt to taste

PLAYING AROUND (match one:one in volume)
Wet & Crisp Additions – jicama, bell pepper, radish, corn kernels
Wet & Soft Additions – hard-cooked egg, mango, feta, roasted pepper, blueberries, fresh mozzarella, fresh cilantro, honeydew
Hot Sauce Substitutes – soy sauce, hoisin sauce

Prep the vegetables, then mix the dressing, then combine. That's it! Serve immediately. Best right away, doesn't really keep.

ALANNA's TIPS & KITCHEN NOTES
An English cucumber works best here, those are the long thin ones you find in the grocery stores year-round. The skins are thinner, the seeds are fewer if any. Once the garden begins to spit out summer cucumbers in a couple of months, I'll give a garden cucumber a try, "striping" the skins to remove some of the toughness and scraping out the burp-y center seeds.
If you toss the vegetables in the dressing, any extra color is from, say red bell pepper or radish or mango, are washed out. And besides, there's something quite elegant about a simple green 'n' white salad.
I usually leave the lemon/lime juice out of the dressing and instead use it to briefly toss with the avocado chunks: it doesn't prevent browning but does mean you've got maybe an hour before the color change starts.




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Still Hungry?



MORE FAVORITE CUCUMBER SALAD RECIPES

~ Julia Child's Cucumber Salad ~
~ Old-Fashioned Cucumber Salad ~
~ Fattoush (Traditional Middle Eastern Salad) ~
~ more cucumber recipes ~
from A Veggie Venture

~ Nana's Cucumbers with Sour Cream ~
~ Cucumber Dip with Feta ~
~ Smoked Salmon Salad with
Quick-Pickled Cucumbers & Roasted Peppers
~
~ more cucumber recipes ~
~ Favorite Summer Salad Recipes ~
from Kitchen Parade, my food column



Looking for healthy new ways to cook vegetables? A Veggie Venture is home to hundreds of super-organized quick, easy and healthful vegetable recipes and the famous asparagus-to-zucchini Alphabet of Vegetables. Join "veggie evangelist" Alanna Kellogg to explore the exciting world of common and not-so-common vegetables, seasonal to staples, savory to sweet, salads to sides, soups to supper, simple to special.

© Copyright Kitchen Parade
2015, 2019 (repub) & 2020


Alanna Kellogg
Alanna Kellogg

A Veggie Venture is home of "veggie evangelist" Alanna Kellogg and the famous asparagus-to-zucchini Alphabet of Vegetables.

Comments

  1. What great timing! We are currently living in Suriname where we only get avocados seasonally. And guess what? Avocado season has just begun! Thanks, we love your recipes....anne in suriname

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  2. Anne ~ Aii, you warm my heart today, thank you! If you only get avocados seasonally, I just bet they’re fabulous! So glad to hit your window, even if accidentally! Enjoy the salad, so-so good!

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Thank you for taking a moment to write! I read each and every comment, for each and every recipe, whether a current recipe or a long-ago favorite. If you have a specific question, it's nearly always answered quick-quick. ~ Alanna