This Cucumber Salad with Herby Yogurt Dressing Is All You’ll Want to Eat This Season

A few years ago, Steph got into a bad rock-climbing accident, which forced her to spend a big part of the summer in the hospital. It was a very scary time for all of us, but things could’ve been a lot worse had she been forced to eat hospital food every day and miss the best of the summer vegetable growing season. Thankfully, we brought her food from Elena almost every day, including this crunchy, tangy and herbaceous cucumber salad. Every bite tastes like summer and friendship, which is especially comforting when you’re trapped inside.

Cucumbers with Herby Yogurt Dressing and Sesame Seeds

Serves: 4-6 

Ingredients

Yogurt dressing

• ½ cup arugula
• ½ clove garlic
• 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• ½ cup roughly chopped fresh parsley leaves, divided
• ½ cup picked and roughly chopped fresh dill leaves, divided
• ½ cup 1-inch-chopped fresh chives, divided
• ½ cup roughly chopped fresh mint, divided
• 1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves, divided
• 1 cup Greek yogurt
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Cucumber salad

• 1½ lb (680 g) cucumbers (preferably a mix of varieties)
• 1 cup pickled shallots
• 3 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
• Flaky sea salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Pinch ground Espelette pepper (optional)

Directions

Make the yogurt dressing: In a blender, place the arugula, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil and half the herbs (parsley, dill, chives, mint and thyme), saving the rest for garnish. Blend until smooth. Transfer to a bowl and fold in the Greek yogurt. Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper.

Prepare the cucumbers: Peel the cucumbers if their skins are waxed and remove the seeds if they are large. If not, leave them as is. Cut the cucumbers on an angle into roughly 2-inch pieces, but remember there’s no need to be perfect here—just have fun playing around with different shapes.

Assemble the salad: In a bowl, toss the cucumbers with the dressing until each piece is nicely coated. Top with pickled shallots, the remaining chopped herbs and toasted sesame seeds. Season with salt and a few twists of pepper. Finish with a light drizzle of olive oil and a dusting of Espelette pepper.

Excerpted from Salad Pizza Wine by Janice Tiefenbach, Stephanie Mercier Voyer, Ryan Gray and Marley Sniatowsky. Copyright © 2023 Janice Tiefenbach, Stephanie Mercier Voyer, Ryan Gray, and Marley Sniatowsky. Photographs by Dominique Lafond. Published by Appetite by Random House®, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited. Reproduced by arrangement with the Publisher. All rights reserved.

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