Sesame Soy Cucumber Salad

Cool as a cucumber. This recipe is rockin' the coolness factor because it's super easy to make and just the perfect refreshing side to add to your summer meal.  

Before we get to the recipe, I have to tell you guys about one of my guilty pleasures...


Food puns.


Seriously though, I LOVE food puns. It doesn't matter how cheesy (ha! get it?) they are, they never fail to make me crack up. Guess that's just a part of being a self-proclaimed food nerd. Since there is the famous saying "cool as a cucumber" and it relates to this recipe, I had to mention some great food puns.  


So basically, if you can understand the humor behind these puns, we can be friends.  Here's a few great ones I found.  

Sesame Soy Cucumber Salad

Servings: about 4 cups

Ingredients: 
9-10 small or medium sized cucumbers, sliced (equates to about 4 cups)
1 Tbsp. kosher salt
2 Tbsp. low-sodium soy sauce
1 Tbsp. stevia
1 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
2 Tbsp. white wine vinegar
1-2 Tbsp. sesame seeds

Directions:  
Start by rinsing your cucumbers, slicing off the ends, and using either a knife or a potato peeler, peel the outside of the cucumbers interchangeably, creating stripes alongside them. Slice the cucumbers in half lengthwise.  

Using a spoon, scrape out the insides of the cucumbers to remove the seeds and softer parts. This will make cucumber "boats" of sorts.

Cool as a cucumber...canoe?!  I have entirely too much fun playing with my food.

Slice the cucumber halves into half-moon pieces, about a 1/4 of an inch wide. Place all your slices of cucumbers into a bowl and sprinkle the kosher salt over them.  Toss the cucumbers and salt together and let rest 15 minutes.  The salt will draw some of the water out of the cucumbers so they don't get made into a soggy cucumber salad mess. After 15 minutes, drain the water from the cucumbers and pat them mostly dry with paper towels.

Combine remaining ingredients with cucumbers in a bowl and stir/toss well to combine.  Allow the cucumber salad to rest in the fridge and marinade for at least a couple hours before serving. The longer they marinade, the more flavor will be soaked into the cucumbers. Serve cold.

Healthy Recipe Tidbits

• I used the less sodium soy sauce to cut back on the sodium.  That regular soy sauce is kinda overloaded a bit with sodium!
• Cucumbers are 96% water.  So they're really low-calorie (only 16 calories per cup of sliced cucumbers!) and help to keep you hydrated--especially during these summer months.
• Cucumbers promote joint health.  They contain the vitamin silica, which studies have shown promotes joint health by strengthening the connective tissue. 
• Sesame seeds are great sources of copper, manganese, calcium, magnesium, iron, and zinc...Just to name a few!  Since they are great sources of copper, they have been shown to provide anti-inflammatory help in reducing the pain and swelling of rheumatoid arthritis.

What's one of your favorite summertime side dishes?

Do you have any favorite food puns or food jokes?....