Meatless Monday: Greek Cucumber Salad

A couple of weeks ago, a recipe for Greek Cucumber Salad caught my eye. It appeared in the early August edition of the Co-Op Deals flyer, distributed at the Elm City Market. 

I’ve already made it twice. Best cucumbers ever!

Try it while the cucumbers are still in season and you know where they are grown. [Cucumbers are number 10 on the EWG’s Dirty Dozen list.] 

Grab three good-sized cukes at your neighborhood co-op or farmer’s market the next time you shop (or from your yard if you are lucky enough). And while you’re at it, pick up some local feta, honey, and garlic. 

Greek Cucumber Salad would make a perfect side dish for a Labor Day gathering. Or, served on a bed of greens with some hearty bread, it becomes a complete meal. 

Two tips:

• Dried dill works fine. Cut the amount to one teaspoon, combine it with the liquid ingredients for the dressing, and make the dressing before cutting up the vegetables. 
• Assemble the salad just one half hour before serving if possible, allowing the flavors to mingle, while maximizing the crunch of the cucumbers and minimizing the juice.

My version with dried dill.

Enjoy!

Happy Monday. Thanks for reading. 

I often blog on food, food issues, or topics related to growing things on Monday in support of Meatless Monday, one of several programs developed in the Healthy Monday project, founded in 2003 in association with Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Communications. Meatless Monday’s goal is “to help reduce meat consumption 15% in order to improve personal health and the health of our planet.”