A crunchy, cooling cucumber and lentil salad, perfect for a hot day. The cucumber will absorb the lovely flavors of the soy sauce and vinegar, and will become soft while still remaining crunchy. It’s a medley of fresh, exciting flavors, perfect as a side salad for a stir fry!
You’re gonna love this full on flavor salad. Cucumber is such a great ingredient because it just soaks up all the flavor you add to it. In this salad we’re using some soy sauce and rice wine vinegar to create a pickle of sorts, and encourage the cucumber to let go of a little of the water it holds onto, and soak up some of the flavor from the sauce.
The result is a beautifully crunchy, zingy salad, full of different textures and flavors. I think this would work amazingly as a little side salad for a stir fry!
Now Spring is officially on its way, we’re starting to see a bit more colour in the grocery stores (like, FINALLY). One of the things that caught my eye this week was these beautiful radishes!! I love radishes, they are delicately spicy and cool and crunchy, making them a perfect addition to this salad.
There are no fancy chopping skills required to make this, that’s just not how we roll around here. I used a vegetable peeler to slice up the cucumber and the radishes. These thin slices allow the cucumber as much surface area as possible to soak up all the wonderful flavours, and give you tons of paper thin slices from the radishes, perfect for scattering all over the top!
This is definitely best enjoyed fresh on the day it’s made. Let’s bring this spring in with a bang!
Crunchy Cucumber and Lentil Salad
Ingredients
- 1 cucumber
- 1/4 cup green lentils dry
- 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 3 radishes
- 1/4 lime juiced
- 1 tbsp fresh parsley finely minced
- fresh mustard cress for topping
- 1 tbsp sesame seeds
Instructions
- Cook the lentils in a large pot of salted water for 25 minutes.
- Using a vegetable peeler, cut the cucumber into long strips lengthways rotating until you reach the seedy part in the middle – we don’t use that in this recipe as it’s too watery. Place all the strips in a large bowl and add the rice wine vinegar and soy sauce and mix until it is all coated. Leave for 5 minutes until the cucumber shrinks and becomes very soft. Squeeze the cucumber to release any excess water and put on the serving plate.
- From the remaining liquid that was in the cucumber bowl, take two tablespoons of that liquid, and add the lime juice and minced herbs. Use this as the dressing.
- Add the lentils, radishes, cress, sesame seeds and dressing to the serving plate and serve immediately.
That looks really good. I love finding new ways to prepare lentils.
Is that a plate you have it on? That presentation is beautiful.
Hi Stephanie, thanks so much!! It’s a really delicious salad, and I’m obsessed with lentils!
It’s actually a wooden board that I picked up at a homeware store, I used it for the presentation more than anything, it crops up in my posts from time to time!
So cool!!!
Great recipe with lovely presentation. :)
Thanks Puja! Hope you like it if you try it :D
This looks delicious!! And great photos :)
Awww thanks so much Natasha!!