Finnish Cucumber Salad – Kurkkusalaatti

Well, it’s summer in the northern hemisphere and I was looking around for something to put together quickly to take to a Barbecue at a friends yesterday evening. Salad seemed optimal so I did a quick search on the web and came up with this little gem – Finnish Cucumber Salad, or as it is called in Finnish, Kurkkusalattti.

Made it yesterday morning,  the kids loved it so I made an extra batch up for lunch. My little guy, who seems more carnivore than omnivore most of the time,  took one bite, loved it and went back for a lot more. Success! And it all disappeared at the barbecue too (including into my little guy, who came back for a second helping – wonders will never cease!)

Anyhow, it was delicious so I thought I’d post the recipe. It’s dead simple, tastes great and takes about ten minutes to make (no doubt it would have been quicker without a 5 year old eager to assist, but half the fun is the preparation after all – and happy little 5 year old’s enthusiastically helping are all part of the fun…. ).

It makes a really nice refreshing side salad for those summer meals.

Finnish Cucumber Salad (Kurkkusalaatti) – Ingredients

1. 2 to 3 large cucumbers

Dressing

1. 1/3 of a cup of cider vinegar (I used organic apple cider vinegar)
2. 1/4 of a cup of water (you can adjust this to suit your taste)
3. 2 tablespoons of olive oil (you can use whatever salad oil you prefer, or leave out completely, works fine either way)
4. 3 to  5 tablespoons of sugar (I use brown sugar and 3 tablespoons worked fine, with white sugar however I’d use 5 tablespoons)
5. 1/2 teaspoon of salt
6. a dash of white pepper
7. 1 tablespoon of dill (I used dried dill because that was what was lying around the kitchen but fresh dill would be better)

Finnish Cucumber Salad (Kurkkusalaatti) – Instructions

Note that it’s best to make this salad a few hours in advance to give the cucumber time to absorb all the flavors. Use a container with a sealable lid or a sealable plastic bag so you can shake it up a bit every now and then while storing in the fridge. If you have any left, it will keep quite satisfactorily in the fridge for anything up to a few days.

1. Mix the dressing ingredients and place in bowl or sealable plastic bag
2. Scrub the cucumbers thoroughly. Remove strips of peel lengthwise down the cucumber so as to leave a “stripey” finish
3. Cut cucumbers into slices and quarter, half, or leave as slices (depends on the size of the cucumbers – the ones I had were huge so I quartered them). Most recipes say thin slices (marinades better) but I prefer slightly chunky – just marinade for longer
4. Place all the cucumber slices in the bowl or container, seal, shake and place in the fridge for a few hours. I used a resealable ziploc bag -makes it easy to toss everything gently – just rotate the bags a few times and you’re done…..

All in all, it proved a delicious side-salad that even my kids, who aren’t salad aficionado’s, enjoyed.

 

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2013 Alternative Finland