Cucumber Salad Time: 16 minutes, divided: 8 minutes
wait 4 - 10 hours, then 8 minutes more
3 - 4 large cucumbers
salt
shallot or small onion
4 whole cloves
2 - 3 tbs lemon juice I can't be real specific here - I never measure and it
3 - 4 tbs olive oil - the good stuff depends on how big the cukes are, etc. But this is an
1/3 - 1/2 cup Greek yogurt or easy 'taste and adjust' salad. Just play with it until you like
plain yogurt it - you really can't screw it up (unless you try to hurry)
Pepper
2 - 3 tbs snipped fresh chives
Peel cucumber and thinly slice on box slicer. (You know, the kind your mother had with three slits on one side for slicing and different size holes on the other 3 sides for grating and shredding.) I suppose you could use a food processor, or a mandolin would work great (if you think that's a musical instrument, you don't have one). Anyway, back to the cukes - slice paper thin. Peel the shallot and stick the whole cloves into it. Put it in the bottom of a deep bowl large enough to easily hold the cukes. Put in a layer of cukes, sprinkle with salt, and repeat 3 times using about 1/2 tsp salt on each layer. Put a small plate or saucer on top of the cucumbers - it should be sitting on the cukes, not the sides of the bowl. Put a big can or jar of something heavy on the plate - to weigh it down. We want weight on the cukes - the plate is just to distribute it more evenly. Let it sit at room temperature for 4 - 10 hours. Remove weight and plate. The cucumbers will be sitting in a lot of water. Put cucumbers in a strainer - discarding shallot and cloves. Rinse cucumbers (remember all that salt?) You don't want to get all of the salt off - just about 80% Taste to test. When rinsed to your satisfaction take the cucumbers in your clean hands and gently squeeze most of the remaining liquid out. Put back into the bowl (that you have rinsed). Add 2 tbs lemon, 3 tbs oil and stir. Add 1/3 cup yogurt , stir and taste. Adjust to the quantity of cukes and your liking. Add fresh ground pepper, chives and serve. This will keep a week, but it never lasts that long at our house.
Cooking for Two? Or more?
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