A fun new way to serve cucumbers is in a smashed cucumber salad like this one. That’s right—you lightly smash the cucumber with a rolling pin or back of a chef’s knife until it just pops open.  By doing this you aren’t smashing the cucumber wide open or even into pieces, you are simply tenderizing the cucumber if you will, just enough so that the texture slightly changes and whatever flavorings you add to the pieces of smashed cucumber are more easily absorbed.

For this specific dish, I smashed the cucumber, tore it into large pieces, and served it on a bed of fresh basil with a spicy Asian-inspired vinaigrette. All you need for the spicy dressing is Asian garlic-chili sauce, sesame oil, and rice vinegar. And for a creamy finish, I topped the salad with some crumbled ricotta salata cheese.

(To view this recipe, click on the blue title of the blog post above*)

Tagged: Asian-inspired, cucumber, cucumber salad, English cucumber, fresh basil, garlic chile paste, rice vinegar, ricotta salata cheese, sesame oil, smashed cucumbers, spicy cucumber salad, spicy smashed cucumber salad