Cool off with this strawberry cucumber salad — a refreshing blend of sweet strawberries, crisp cucumbers, and fresh mint topped with walnuts and a bright lemon poppy dressing. Perfect for picnics and BBQs, this fresh summer salad is tasty, light, and easy to make!
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About Strawberry Cucumber Salad
Come summer, and I can't get enough of salads.. you know the cold, no-cook summer salads that are a breeze to put together? Like this vibrant strawberry and cucumber salad with a fresh mint chiffonade, walnuts for a bit of crunch, and a lovely lemon-poppy seed dressing to round it off.
Two more no-cook salad for the summer months: cucumber salad with a creamy greek yogurt dressing and spinach arugula salad.
Anyway, I also like making this salad because strawberries are in season in summer and much cheaper compared to the rest of the year, so why not indulge?
Ingredients
How to avoid soggy cucumbers
Cucumbers have a very high water content and release a lot of of juice when cut, especially when they've been sitting in a salad for some time. So, how to prevent the cukes from going soggy?
The most obvious answers are to make it fresh and eat it right away as well as opt for fresh cucumbers with firm green skins, but there's more you can do to ensure a good crunch. Here are some easy steps you can take:
1. Slice the cucumbers lengthwise and scoop out the flesh and seeds with a sharp metal spoon.
2. Cut them into even chunks and put them in a colander. Sprinkle a teaspoon of sea salt all over them and leave them to drain for 20 minutes in the kitchen sink. Salt will draw out the remaining moisture from the cukes and make them super crunchy and tasty!
3. Drain them and pat dry with paper towels or a clean kitchen towel. Now they are ready to use in the salad.
The Lemon Poppy Dressing
This is a sunshine yellow dressing with a lot of flavour and texture from the poppy seeds. It is the perfect dressing for a summer salad with fruit. It doesn't weight the salad down or overwhelm it. Here's how to make it:
Put all the ingredients for the dressing except the olive oil in a bowl and use a whisk to combine them. Drizzle the olive oil slowly as you whisk, so that it gets incorporated into the dressing. That's about it!
How to make the salad
1. Wash the strawberries, pat them dry and slice off the tops with the leaves. Cut them into halves or quarters if the strawberries are large in size.
2. Chop the walnuts roughly in a food processor to get tiny bits of walnut.
3. Make a chiffonade of the mint leaves: A fancy word, but all it means is to gather the mint leaves (without the stalks) in a tight bunch and chop them as finely as possible. This will ensure even distribution and a better release of the oils into the salad.
Note: If you don't like mint, sub with fresh basil and chop it as above.
4. Assemble all the main ingredients (cucumbers, strawberries, walnuts and mint in a large bowl and pour the lemon poppy dressing over it.
Tip: You might want to save some of the dressing if you want it to just lightly coat the salad. Put the extra dressing in covered jar in the fridge.
Top Tip
Don't add the dressing until the salad is ready to serve. This is not a make-ahead salad as the cucumbers and strawberries will release their juices the longer they sit. The best way to go about it is to keep the salad ingredients as well as the dressing ready and combine them when you are about to eat.
More Summer Salads
Did you try this strawberry cucumber salad recipe? Do leave a recipe rating and review in the comments section below.
Strawberry Cucumber Salad
Equipment
- colander for draining the cucumbers
- small bowl and whisk for the dressing
- large bowl for assembling salad
Ingredients
Main Salad Ingredients
- 2 English cucumbers large
- 1 pound strawberries halved
- ⅓ cup walnuts broken
- 8 stalks mint leaves leaves separated
Lemon Poppy Dressing Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil extra virgin
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 3 tbsp lemon juice freshly squeezed
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- ½ tablespoon poppy seeds
- ½ tsp sea salt
- ¼ tsp ground black pepper
Instructions
Prepare the cucumbers
- Wash and slice both the cucumbers lengthwise. Scoop out the flesh and seeds with a sharp metal spoon.
- Cut the cucumbers into small chunks and put them in a colander in the sink. Sprinkle a teaspoon of sea salt all over them and leave them to drain for 20 minutes.
- Drain them after 20 minutes and pat dry with paper towels or a clean absorbent kitchen towel.
Make the lemon poppy dressing
- Put all the ingredients for the dressing except the olive oil in a bowl and use a whisk to combine them. Drizzle the olive oil slowly as you whisk, so that it gets incorporated into the dressing. Keep it aside for now.
Assemble the salad
- Wash the strawberries, pat them dry and slice off the tops with the leaves. Cut them into halves or quarters if the strawberries are large in size.
- Chop the walnuts roughly in a food processor.
- Remove the mint leaves from the stalks and gather them in a tight bunch. Chop them finely.
- Put the cucumbers, strawberries, walnuts and mint leaves in a large bowl and pour the dressing over it. Mix gently with a large salad spoon and serve immediately.
Notes
- Make the salad fresh and serve immediately. This is not a make-ahead salad that yo can pop in the fridge to serve later since the cucumbers and strawberries will become soggy if they sit too long in their juices.
- However, you can do a little advance prep and keep the salad ingredients and the dressing ready separately. Mix the two once you are ready to serve for the best experience.
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