It really is!
Something that I've been meaning to do for a while is start up a mini food blog. Nothing too heavy yet, but I'm going to aim for weekly updates. As a start, let's talk salads.
Quite often, when people think of vegetarian diets, they think first of tofu, and then salads. And truth be told, I think that salads are both over-represented and under-achieved in vegetarian dining. Granted, I don't live in a hotbed of vegetarian dining, but it is still a bit surprising when I go to a restaurant and the only vegetarian dish is a garden salad.
The thing is that I think that many people have too narrow an idea as to what constitutes a salad. In my parents' home, a salad consists of romaine lettuce (at best) with maybe some celery and fridge tomatoes, drowned in a sugary bottled dressing. I love my parents dearly, but salad people they aren't.
As with most good cooking, good salads are about contrast and balance. Mixing crunchy vegetables with tender leaves, bitter arugula with a tangy/sweet honey and lemon dressing, or a sizzling hot dressing over ice cold greens. Lately I've been looking into incorporating pickles into salads, and have found that there is a great tradition of using quick-pickled cucumbers as a side salad.
Here's a simple but excellent recipe, taken from Eating Out Loud:
4 cups English or Persian cucumbers, cubed
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup rice vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon mirin
Pinch of red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
The cucumbers should be chopped into cubes about 1/2-3/4″ thick. The Persian cucumbers are small, so I sliced them length ways then cut crosswise into half-moon shapes.
Place the cucumbers into a bowl and sprinkle with the salt. Toss the cucumbers to fully coat. Let sit for 15 minutes. The salt will season the cucumbers but also draw out some of the water. After 15 minutes, thoroughly rinse the cucumbers and drain. Make sure to rinse out the bowl before returning the cucumbers.
Combine the vinegar, mirin, sugar, and red pepper flakes into a small bowl and stir until sugar dissolves. Pour the mixture over the cucumbers. Press the cucumbers down into the liquid so they are covered as much as possible. Refrigerate for 8-12 hours.
It’s important that the cucumbers sit for as long as possible – it’s amazing how much difference it makes. I tested them at 6 hours and they were ok, but after resting for the entire night they were absolute rockstars. Before serving, drain the liquid and sprinkle with the toasted sesame seeds. If you haven’t toasted sesame seeds before, you can read this post on how to toast sesame seeds.
While I love the pickled cucumber salad just the way it is, I played around to see how I could mix it up. You could add sliced sweet-pickled ginger for an added kick of spicy-sweet flavor or add seeded and chopped tomato for texture contrast. All three versions put a smile on my face.
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I've tried this recipe myself a few weekends ago, and let me tell you, it blew me away. The sweet/sour/spicy flavour of the pickle with the half-soft/half-crunchy texture of the cucumbers was just brilliant. It is a quick pickle however, so if it is left for too long the cucumbers will get limp and gross. Eaten at the right time though, they are a thing of beauty.
Something that I've been meaning to do for a while is start up a mini food blog. Nothing too heavy yet, but I'm going to aim for weekly updates. As a start, let's talk salads.
Quite often, when people think of vegetarian diets, they think first of tofu, and then salads. And truth be told, I think that salads are both over-represented and under-achieved in vegetarian dining. Granted, I don't live in a hotbed of vegetarian dining, but it is still a bit surprising when I go to a restaurant and the only vegetarian dish is a garden salad.
The thing is that I think that many people have too narrow an idea as to what constitutes a salad. In my parents' home, a salad consists of romaine lettuce (at best) with maybe some celery and fridge tomatoes, drowned in a sugary bottled dressing. I love my parents dearly, but salad people they aren't.
As with most good cooking, good salads are about contrast and balance. Mixing crunchy vegetables with tender leaves, bitter arugula with a tangy/sweet honey and lemon dressing, or a sizzling hot dressing over ice cold greens. Lately I've been looking into incorporating pickles into salads, and have found that there is a great tradition of using quick-pickled cucumbers as a side salad.
Here's a simple but excellent recipe, taken from Eating Out Loud:
4 cups English or Persian cucumbers, cubed
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup rice vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon mirin
Pinch of red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
The cucumbers should be chopped into cubes about 1/2-3/4″ thick. The Persian cucumbers are small, so I sliced them length ways then cut crosswise into half-moon shapes.
Place the cucumbers into a bowl and sprinkle with the salt. Toss the cucumbers to fully coat. Let sit for 15 minutes. The salt will season the cucumbers but also draw out some of the water. After 15 minutes, thoroughly rinse the cucumbers and drain. Make sure to rinse out the bowl before returning the cucumbers.
Combine the vinegar, mirin, sugar, and red pepper flakes into a small bowl and stir until sugar dissolves. Pour the mixture over the cucumbers. Press the cucumbers down into the liquid so they are covered as much as possible. Refrigerate for 8-12 hours.
It’s important that the cucumbers sit for as long as possible – it’s amazing how much difference it makes. I tested them at 6 hours and they were ok, but after resting for the entire night they were absolute rockstars. Before serving, drain the liquid and sprinkle with the toasted sesame seeds. If you haven’t toasted sesame seeds before, you can read this post on how to toast sesame seeds.
While I love the pickled cucumber salad just the way it is, I played around to see how I could mix it up. You could add sliced sweet-pickled ginger for an added kick of spicy-sweet flavor or add seeded and chopped tomato for texture contrast. All three versions put a smile on my face.
-----------------------------
I've tried this recipe myself a few weekends ago, and let me tell you, it blew me away. The sweet/sour/spicy flavour of the pickle with the half-soft/half-crunchy texture of the cucumbers was just brilliant. It is a quick pickle however, so if it is left for too long the cucumbers will get limp and gross. Eaten at the right time though, they are a thing of beauty.
