Who doesn’t need a good condiment now and then? That is particularly true now. Those creative dishes we are all making with pantry staples can get a wee bit boring.
This over-the-top lime-flavored cucumber dish rocks. If you are a lime juice devotee as I am, you will be in lime heaven with the sauce on this dish.
These Cucumbers In Sweet Lime Vinegar would be a great complement to your favorite sandwich or burger.
Here is my sandwich. I’ve spread generous dollops of hummus on sourdough and then fancied up the sandwich with pickled red onions, lime-marinated cucumbers and sliced tomatoes. Wonderful.
I’m now thinking that the sandwich would be even better on a warm pita. Very soon.
Here’s the recipe.
Save RecipeIngredients
- 1 1/2 pounds cucumbers (sliced about 1/8 inch thick)(The original recipe called for seedless English cucumbers but I used young regular cucumbers and it worked just fine)
- Kosher salt
- 1/4 C. Sweet Lime Vinegar
- 1 T. black sesame seeds (toasted)
- 1 T. fresh lime juice
- 1/2 C. rice vinegar (unseasoned)
- 1/2 C. sugar
- Grated zest and juice of 2 medium limes
Instructions
- To make the salad, thinly slice the cucumbers and spread them out a bit in a large colander. Sprinkle cucumbers with salt. Set the bowl in your sink and let the cucumbers drain for about 30 minutes.
- Once the cucumbers have drained for 30 minutes, press the cucumbers a bit to drain out as much water as you can and then spread them out on a towel and blot them dry.
- Put the drained and blotted cucumbers in a medium bowl and pour the prepared lime vinegar (see below) over the cucumbers. Sprinkle with most of the toasted black sesame seeds--reserving some seeds for the garnish. Toss the cucumbers and the vinegar syrup together and refrigerate the cucumbers until you are ready to serve.
- When you are ready to use the cucumbers either as a stand-alone salad or as a garnish, remove the cucumbers from the dish using a slotted spoon. Add the lime juice and stir the mixture together. Scatter the remaining toasted black sesame seeds over the cucumbers.
- To make the lime vinegar, heat the vinegar and sugar in a small saucepan just until the mixture begins to boil, stirring as you go. Lower the heat to a simmer and continue to cook for 2 to 3 more minutes. You want the sugar to be completely dissolved and you want the mixture to be a little syrupy.
- Remove the syrup from the heat and stir in lime zest and half of the lime juice. Cool a bit and taste the syrup. You can add more lime juice to your taste if you want. Cool the syrup completely before using on your sliced cucumbers.
This recipe is adapted from one that appears in the cookbook Saladish by Ilene Rosen. You can find the book here.
