Smashed Cucumber Salad With All of the Crispy, Crunchy Bits Recipe on Food52 (2024)

FAQs

How to make cucumbers extra crunchy? ›

Just place the slices or chunks in a colander over a bowl or sink. Sprinkle them with a couple of pinches of salt, toss to coat, and let them rest for about 30 minutes. Pat them dry with a paper towel and proceed with the recipe.

Salt: The secret to the best cucumber salad is to salt your cucumbers. The salt makes the cucumbers taste better and removes excess water, diluting the dressing. I use sea salt, but any salt will do. Vinegar: I love apple cider vinegar in this dressing, but distilled or white wine vinegar also works nicely.

No matter how you dress them, salting and draining sliced cucumbers maximizes crunchy texture.

Whether you turn them into smashed cucumber salad, dip them in hummus, or lay coins over your eyes for an at-home spa day, cucumbers should be crisp, not soft. And how you store cucumbers can either extend or diminish their shelf life.

Kirby Cucumbers

You'll recognize Kirby cukes by their bumpy skin and short stature. And you'll know them once you bite into 'em by their unmistakable crunch. Their thick skin and snappy crunch make them a favorite choice for pickling; sometimes they're marketed as pickling cucumbers.

"It's best to place them in a breathable bag or wrap them loosely in a paper towel to absorb any excess moisture," says Carla L.

Ample circulation of air is key to keeping lettuce crisp and fresh for longer. For this reason, an air-tight plastic or glass storage container may be preferable over a bag. A container allows the leaves more room so they don't get squished or bruised during storage, allows air circulation within the container.

"When storing cucumbers, you want to prevent moisture loss while also preventing rot, which can be tricky," Trimble says. To do this, she advises giving cukes an airtight "second skin" by wrapping them in plastic or beeswax wrap to slow deterioration.

If you have a cucumber that's too bitter to eat, compost it. But, if the bitterness has concentrated near the stem and in the skin (where it's most likely to settle), peel the cucumber and slice off an inch or two near the stem. Many people sprinkle on salt or sugar to balance out the bitter taste.

Happily, salting cucumbers requires only 20 minutes or so and virtually no effort: You just put them in a colander or strainer, toss them with a big pinch of salt or two — the exact quantity doesn't matter, since most of the salt will flow away with the liquid — and let osmosis do its thing.

How to salt cucumbers before salad? ›

Wash the cucumbers, peel if desired, and cut into the shape you need. Place in a bowl and toss with enough kosher salt to coat evenly (approximately 1/2 to 1 teaspoon per pound). Transfer to a colander set over a bowl or sink and let sit for 30 minutes.

Can Dogs Have Cucumbers? Cucumbers are perfectly safe for dogs to eat, and offer a low-calorie, crunchy snack that many dogs love. Cucumbers only contain about 8 calories per one-half cup of slices, compared to the 40 calories in a single medium dog biscuit. Cucumbers are also very low in sodium and fat-free.

For a quick and easy way to help ensure crisp pickles: soak cucumbers in ice water for 4 to 5 hours before pickling. This is a safer method for making crisp pickles. Using lime, or calcium hydroxide, in solution for soaking cucumbers changes the amount of acid in the cucumber tissue.

Cucumbers are often soaked in salt water to remove some of the naturally high water content. Cucumbers will otherwise give up water and dilute the salad dressing. Unpeeled cucumbers are higher in nutritional value as fiber and vitamin A are lost by peeling.

cold frame or a warm sunny site outdoors, either up supports or trailing on the ground. With enough warmth and plenty of water, they'll produce lots of tasty, crunchy, refreshing cucumbers from mid-summer onwards. You can also choose from small, medium or full-length fruits, with many different varieties of each type.