Quick Pickled Cucumber Salad with Coriander Seed

This is the salad I’ve been eating almost every day this summer, full stop. It can be a side dish, it’s delicious served atop flatbread with hummus, a complementary component in a grain bowl, or a crunchy layer on a sandwich. This recipe works well with both Middle Eastern-inspired dishes as well as Asian influenced dishes. It’s also good as a foil to smoked salmon or roast beef if you are looking for a low carb snack.

I added dill to this salad, but other optional additions could be to include toasted white sesame seeds, chopped cilantro, thinly sliced red onion, or red pepper flakes.

The full recipe is below, but here’s some visual instruction to get you started:

I used cucumbers from my garden, both regular green slicing cucumbers, and an heirloom variety called a Lemon Cucumber. It just looks like a lemon in size, shape, and color, but it tastes like a cucumber! You can use any cucumbers you enjoy.

Next, the cucumbers get sliced very thin, between 1/8th inch and 1/4 inch thick on a mandolin or with a sharp knife.

Next, the cucumbers are salted and sit for ten minutes. Pour off the liquid that drains off the cucumbers.

While the cucumbers are sitting, crush the whole coriander seeds in a mortar and pestle or grind in a spice grinder. Coriander seeds have a slightly citrusy flavor.

Next, follow the recipe to finish assembling the salad. It should keep in the refrigerator for 3-4 days, but I doubt it will last that long!

Print Recipe

Cucumber Salad with Coriander Seed

Quick Pickled Cucumber Salad with Coriander Seed

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Total Time15 minutes mins

Course: Salad

Cuisine: Japanese

Keyword: cucumber, salad

Servings: 6 servings

Ingredients

• 1 pound cucumbers
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 Tablespoons rice wine vinegar or other mild vinegar like champagne vinegar
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon whole coriander seed crushed in mortal and pestle
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• .25 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 1 Tablespoon chopped fresh dill

Instructions

• Using a mandolin, or a sharp knife, slice the cucumber to 1/8"-1-4" thick into a bowl. Toss the cucumbers with salt and let sit for 10-15 minutes. After that time, drain off any water that has accumulated in the bottom of the bowl.
• Place drained cucumbers in a bowl and add the vinegar, sesame oil, coriander seed, sugar, pepper, and dill. Toss to combine and chill for at least 30 minutes before eating.