Its juicy crunch cuts through the smoky char of so many of the season’s mains, but these tips let it shine in its own right.
Refreshing, savory cucumbers are an excellent centerpiece in all kinds of salad combinations.Armando Rafael for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Cyd Raftus McDowell.
What’s a good side for barbecue ribs? Hot dogs? Cajun shrimp boil? Bulgogi? Tonkatsu? Tandoori chicken?
The answer — for these or any summer main — is a cucumber salad.
That’s because cucumbers are a cooling counterpart for hot food and hot weather. Their juicy crunch cuts through char, spice and richness, and mixing them into a salad doesn’t take much time or even any cooking. But there are just a few tricks to ensure they’re utterly refreshing.
Here are seven ways to take your cucumber salads to new, more exciting heights.
1. Concentrate their flavor.
Melissa Clark salts the cucumbers in this avocado-shrimp salad. Doing so draws out the cucumbers’ moisture, intensifying their essence.Johnny Miller for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Rebecca Jurkevich.
Cucumbers’ high water content — about 95 percent — makes them hydrating. But it has a downside: It can turn dressings or sauces into puddles. Sprinkling cucumbers in a colander with a big pinch of salt draws out their liquid, leaving them crunchier, sweeter and more concentrated in flavor.
Try these recipes:
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Top cucumbers with an ice pack to push out their liquid as they chill for a perfect foil to hot, seared halloumi and crispy croutons. | Recipe: Cucumber-Tomato Salad With Seared Halloumi and Olive Oil Croutons
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Draining cucumbers makes them especially snappy, and a great textural complement to shrimp. | Recipe: Smashed Cucumber, Avocado and Shrimp Salad
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Salted cucumbers don’t risk diluting a velvety peanut sauce that’s bold with soy sauce and raw garlic. | Recipe: Cucumber Salad With Roasted Peanuts and Chile
2. Keep some peel.
Running the tines of a fork along cucumbers exposes their flesh, so they can soak up more sauce while maintaining their structure.Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne.
Peeling cucumbers in alternating strips keeps them from getting mushy, while the exposed area can soak up seasonings. It’s a win-win.
Try these recipes:
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Dressing striped cucumbers with vinegar, red onion and dill gives them the flavor of a pickle and the crispness of a salad. | Recipe: Cucumber Salad
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Peel the Persian cucumbers in stripes here, and the salad will keep for up to two days in your refrigerator. | Recipe: Salad-e Shirazi (Persian Cucumber, Tomato and Onion Salad)
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Instead of using a peeler, you can run the tines of a fork along the cucumber’s skin to create thin channels for a spicy lime dressing to drip into. | Recipe: Tomato Salad With Cucumber and Ginger
3. Smash them.
The craggy edges of smashed cucumbers easily soak up sauces and seasonings.Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.
Smashing cucumbers with the side of a knife or a rolling pin is a classic technique throughout Asia. It’s not only fun, but it also makes for a better end product, as the craggy surfaces better soak up more dressing than smooth, slick and slippery slices.
Try these recipes:
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Take a cue from the many cucumber salads throughout China, and dress rough-edged pieces with soy sauce, rice or black vinegar, garlic and sesame oil. | Recipe: Chinese Smashed Cucumbers With Sesame Oil and Garlic
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Kimchi brine quickly soaks into smashed cucumbers, lending funk and flavor. | Recipe: Smacked Cucumber ‘Quick Kimchi’
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While you’re crushing cucumbers, smash some raw green beans. After salting and draining, they’ll be crisp-tender — not at all fibrous, waxy or stringy. | Recipe: Classic Chicken Schnitzel With Smashed Cucumbers
4. Pair them with other juicy fruits …
Tart, juicy pomegranate seeds are an excellent complement to fresh cucumbers.Mark Weinberg for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Monica Pierini.
Even though they aren’t always treated like one, cucumbers are a fruit, so pair them with brighter, tangier and sweeter fruits. Cucumbers’ subtle savoriness and not-so-subtle crunch accentuate plush summer plums, cherries, peaches, melons and more.
Try these recipes:
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Incorporating cucumber into the classic Mediterranean watermelon-feta salad heightens the dish’s sweet-savoriness. | Recipe: Cucumber, Melon and Watermelon Salad
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Tart pomegranate seeds play well with tiny pieces of cucumber. | Recipe: Cucumber Pomegranate Salad
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Temper the intense flavors of peaches and a gochujang dressing with cucumbers and mozzarella. | Recipe: Peach, Cucumber and Mozzarella Salad With Gochujang Vinaigrette
5. … especially the other summer staple that’s really a fruit: tomato.
Tomato and cucumbers play well together, with cucumbers tempering tomatoes’ tang.Yossy Arefi for The New York Times (Photography and Styling)
Tomatoes and cucumbers, a summertime power couple, have been cooling us off forever in dishes including Greek salad, Persian shirazi or Indian kachumber. Their strength is in their complementary attributes: Tomatoes’ acidity brightens the cucumbers, while the cucumbers tone down tomatoes’ sharper edges.
Try these recipes:
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Balance the caramelized char of seared cucumbers, corn and shrimp with fat wedges of fresh tomato. | Recipe: Spicy Shrimp With Blistered Cucumbers, Corn and Tomato
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Here, the sweet-tart juices of cucumbers, tomatoes and lime marinate raw fish. | Recipe: Ceviche
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Olives, capers and feta add briny pops and heft to a salad of raw tomatoes, cucumbers and bell peppers. | Recipe: Greek Salad
6. Contrast with creaminess.
Buttermilk and yogurt add a silky texture and tart flavor to mellow cucumbers.Dane Tashima for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne.
For a salad that’s soft and luxurious rather than all crunch, add something creamy. That might be a dressing rich with buttermilk, yogurt, sour cream or coconut milk; a milky cheese like burrata or ricotta; or slivers of silken tofu or avocado.
Try these recipes:
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These chile oil-dressed cucumbers might be too spicy on their own but not when swiped through an herby yogurt. | Recipe: Spicy Cucumbers With Yogurt, Lemon and Herbs
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Buttermilk, yogurt and lemon come together in the tangy dressing that coats this salad. | Recipe: Creamy Cucumber Salad
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When cucumbers pair up with avocados, little else is needed. | Recipe: Cucumber-Avocado Salad
7. Toss everything with herbs.
Chopped parsley finishes this black-eyed pea salad with cucumbers and tomatoes.Julia Gartland for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Samantha Seneviratne.
Soft-stemmed herbs like cilantro, parsley and dill are exactly what laid-back cucumbers need — bursts of summer-fresh flavor — so add them by the fistful.
Try these recipes
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When it comes to adding greens, skip lettuce in favor of a punchier mix, like cucumbers, cranberries and roughly chopped dill. | Recipe: Roasted Salmon With Dill and Cucumber Salad
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In this make-ahead, cook-out-ready salad, finely chopped parsley softens into the vinaigrette so there’s no worry of wilting. | Recipe: Saladu Nebbe (Black-Eyed Pea Salad With Tomatoes and Cucumbers)
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Make a salad version of sabzi khordan, the abundant platter of fresh herbs, radishes, walnuts and feta found at many Persian meals. | Recipe: Herb and Radish Salad With Feta and Walnuts
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