When I was growing up, my mom often made two different cucumber salads. For each of the salads, she sliced fresh cucumbers into very thin rounds. In one salad, the cucumbers bathed in a clear vinegar-water solution seasoned with sugar and lots of black pepper. I always liked that salad. My favorite, though, was the salad made of thinly sliced cucumbers swimming in a delicious sour cream sauce with sugar and vinegar stirred in along with thin, delicate threads of fresh dill weed.
During the last couple of weeks I’ve been able to purchase English, or seedless, cucumbers at my local farmers market. These long, slender cukes are not really seedless, but the seeds are so small and insignificant compared to regular cucumbers, they seem seedless when they’re being eaten.
Last night I served the Sour Cream Cucumber Salad with grilled pork chops, potatoes and beans. This is a salad that is good with everything. My Hungarian mother always served Sour Cream Cucumber Salad with a traditional meal of Paprika Chicken and tiny homemade dumplings. Since my mom taught me how to make this salad, I often refer to it as Hungarian Cucumber Salad.
My mom could expertly and efficiently use a kinfe to slice the cucumbers. I use my mandolin, making quick work of this step of the recipe.
Sometimes I add thinly sliced onions to this salad. If I’m making it for family, I surprise them every once in a while by adding sliced hot peppers. A sprinkling of paprika can add a Hungarian touch to the salad.
Sour Cream Cucumber Salad is not complicated to make and it’s a perfect way to enjoy garden-fresh cucumbers.
Sour Cream Cucumber Salad
- 2 English cucumbers (often called burpless or seedless cucumbers)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ cup full-fat sour cream
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 2 tablespoons vinegar
- 1 tablespoon fresh dill weed, lightly chopped
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- Paprika for sprinkling
Peel cucumbers. Slice paper thin and place in a bowl. Sprinkle with salt and mix. Cover and refrigerate for 3 to 4 hours.
In a small bowl, combine sour cream, sugar, vinegar, dill weed and black pepper. Cover and refrigerate.
Rinse and drain the cucumber slices. Pat dry with paper towels to remove excess liquid. Put cucumber slices in clean bowl and set aside.
Just before serving, add sour cream dressing to cucumber slices and toss. Sprinkle with paprika.
Sue Doeden is a popular cooking instructor, food writer and integrative nutrition health coach. She is the host of Good Food, Good Life 365 on Lakeland Public Television. Her own hives full of hardworking bees and her love of honey led to the creation of her recently published cookbook, Homemade with Honey.