Crunch. Crunch. Mmmmmm.  Ahhhhh.

I wanted to bring in something a little light and refreshing for our Mother’s Day grilling cornucopia of grilled hamburgers and hotdogs.  I needed something to counter-balance all that testosterone!

Solution? 

A huge-mongous bowl of cut up cantaloupe and chilled cucumber salad!  They were both refreshing, easy to assemble and pretty to look at.   Here’s the recipe for the cucumber salad (I’m assuming you won’t need the recipe for the cantaloupe).

Makes 4 servings  

·       4 English (hothouse) cucumbers, peeled and thinly sliced (I used 2 hothouse and 2 regular cucumbers and I truly think the hothouse are better for this recipe simply because they have a tighter structure and less moisture)

·       salt and ground white pepper

·       3 cloves garlic

·       2/3 cup (5oz/150g) plain yogurt (dairy free friends, feel free to substitute!)

·       1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

·       2 Tbsp minced fresh dill

·       3 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

Place the cucumber slices in a single layer on a plate.  Salt lightly and let stand for about 1 hour.  Drain off excess liquid.

Mince the garlic cloves and put into a small bowl.  Add the yogurt, lemon juice, and dill.  Season with salt and white pepper to taste.  Add the olive oil and stir until blended to make a dressing.

Place the drained cucumber slices in a salad bowl, pour the dressing over the top, and toss.  Refrigerate for 1 hour, then serve. 

This recipe comes from a wonderful cookbook I purchased last summer from Williams-Sonoma called Cooking from the farmers’ market.  I love it because it provides information about all kinds of produce available all year long at farmer’s markets and ways to prepare them.  Check it out for yourself, here.