Zesty Cucumber Salad with lemon-mint dressing and pine nuts is a fresh and simple side dish – perfect to beat the heat during the hot months of the year!
Cucumbers are not just for putting over your eye sockets.
It’s because of this salad that I no longer look at cucumbers just through closed eyelids.
It’s because of this salad that I will be the talk of the barbecue all summer long.
It’s because of this salad and this smoothie that I am no longer bloated.
It’s because of this –
I’ll stop.
Now that it’s sufficiently toasty outside, I’ve been eating salad for lunch pretty much every day.
Creature of habit right here.
As much as I love my chock-full-of-goodies go-to green salad, I like to shake things up and keep it interesting – you know – really push the envelope.
I was perusing the Cooking Light website for something fun and different and I caught a glimpse of this Cucumber and Herb Salad with Pine Nuts. Sold!
I already had a bunch of mint on hand, so I replaced the parsley and celery leaves with it.
It’s because of this salad that I learned about cucumbers. Ready to geek out?
Health Benefits of Cucumbers:
For reasons unbeknownst to be, I’ve always assumed cucumbers have zero health benefits. But after a little research, I learned I was wrong.
They aid with digestion, strengthen your connective tissue (which helps relieve arthritis), help reduce cholesterol, and lower your blood pressure.
They contain electrolytes and also have a fair concentration of B vitamins and vitamin C, which makes them a nice little hangover cure.
Word has it, eating cucumbers after tying one on will help prevent headache the next day. Wish I had known that little tidbit years ago.
The fact that cucumbers are also an anti-inflammatory is the reason we’ve been looking at them through closed eyelids. They help ease puffy eyes and swelling throughout the body. Hence the lack of bloating.
So now you know. you can add them cucumbers to your water for a little energy boost (or hangover prevention/cure).
What’s the state of your lemon zester?
I had been using a cheese grater to zest lemons all these years; however, I had been looking for an excuse other than cocktails to commandeer a fancy Lemon Zester that makes long zest strips, and this salad provided that excuse.
My zest will forever be changed.
Also check out my Easy Asian Cucumber Salad!
May your weekend be filled with zest and cucumber salad.
Zesty Cucumber Salad with Pine Nuts
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 tablespoons avocado oil
- 1 tablespoon lemon rind strips
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1/3 cup fresh mint chopped
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt or to taste
- 3 cups cucumber sliced (about 1.5 large cucumbers)
- 3 stalks green onion chopped
- 2 tablespoons pine nuts toasted
Instructions
- Whisk together the first 6 ingredients.
- Peel the cucumbers and slice them into 1/8" rounds.
- Add the cucumber, green onion, and toasted pine nuts to the bowl and stir everything together to combine.
- You can serve the salad as is, or add avocado and hard-boiled egg to make it more substantial.
hi!
I found your this today on pinterest. I like the idea of the salad. Only I don’t have grapeseed oil and I don’t think its common in holland. Do you reccomend another type of oil (like olive oil or so) to use??
thnx!
greetings
Sylvia
Hi Sylvia! You can definitely use olive oil!
and it’s so purrrrddy! gotta get one of those zesters.
Cheers!
So much to learn about cucumber, and so little time. Typically I’m not so into it because it tends to be low on the flavor totem pole, but not the case here. Not at all!
I fall on the long skinny zesting side. Love the sounds of this salad! (Love cucumbers anyway but this take a cuke salad to a whole ‘nother level!)
I normally don’t go for cucumbers but after this post (and these beautiful pictures) I think I’ve changed my mind. This salad looks so very lovely!
Thanks, Monet! I’ve never been huge on cucumbers too, but I enjoy this salad – the flavors compliment each other nicely and it’s so refreshing. Let me know if you try it!
So refreshing! Perfect for those hot days!
I’m a huge cucumber lover! I’m not sure if it is because I love the taste so much or the fact they they remind me of a spa, (cucumber water, cucumber slices on the eyes…) either way, I eat them all the time. I just bought a huge one from the farmer’s market and have been trying to think of something tasty to do with it. Also, I need a fancy lemon zester! I’ll add that to my huge list of kitchen wants 🙂
So glad you’re interested in making the salad! It’s so simple yet flavorful. You really don’t need a fancy zester for this salad, but I really enjoyed the long strips 🙂
I think you’ve just invented the most refreshing salad ever…and I love my lemon zester, too, although I’ve been known to zest a little bit of my finger on occasion :/
Haha! I’m always worried about taking chunks of skin off when I use kitchen appliances. Thankfully, my zester seems pretty fool-proof, so I think I’m safe with it 😉
I love eating cucumbers! So fresh and refreshing for summers! This is a lovely recipe 🙂
Thanks, Ami! It’s definitely going to be one of my summer faves, that’s fo sho! 🙂
Cucumbers are the shizzz. I’m all for a little debloatation (totally a word) and this looks like a delicious way to get it!
Have a great weekend girl!
Debloatation is my new favorite word and state of being, ha! Let’s lay by the pool and have ourselves some cucumber salad 🙂