If you are looking for an asian inspired light and simple side ‘salad’ dish to balance out your heavier mains, then look no further than the dependable cucumber.
Eating cucumbers raw is a good and natural way to keep your skin looking youthful. Cucumbers are extremely hydrating so will keep your skin looking plump. What’s more, the silica in cucumbers will help your joints, bones, and connective tissues, all key components as you age (NB: It’s actually the skin of the cucumber where most of the nutrition comes from). Did you know that a half-cup of sliced cucumbers has 8 calories and more than 10% of the recommended daily intake of vitamin K?
Since I’m all about the spirit of “sharing is caring”, I’m now going to share with you an easy cucumber salad that requires nothing more than a cucumber, a vegetable peeler, some rice vinegar, sesame oil and sprinkle of sugar (optional).
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 large cucumber
- 1/4 cup rice vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1/2 teaspoon of sugar (optional)
METHOD:
1) If you plan to use sugar, bring the vinegar and sugar to a simmer in a pot, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Then cool at room temperature. If you don’t plan to use sugar, you can simply skip this step and toss the vinegar with the sesame oil along with the cucumber ribbons in step 3.
2) Wash cucumber and grab your vegetable peeler to peel the cucumber lengthwise to form ribbons.
3) Add the sesame oil and the cooled vinegar solution and toss everything together. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.
(NB: Do not let the dressed cucumber salad stand for more than 20 minutes before serving or else it will go soggy.)
