Side Servings

Cucumber salad

Full StarHalf Star
6
Easy
10 minutes, plus 1 hour’s chilling time
5 minutes

“The first time I made this celery-brined cucumber salad with fresh ginger recipe was for a wedding, and it embodies the kind of simple creativity that makes my heart smile. The natural salt in celery makes its juice act as a sort of brine, which I turn into a vibrant dressing with lemon juice, oil, fresh ginger and sugar. This salad is delicious on its own but also elevates any grilled meat and is great in a sandwich.”

Wine/Spirit Pairing
Woolworths Villiera Chenin Blanc

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Ingredients

Method
  • 2 large cucumbers
  • 300 g celery, cut into chunks
  • 1 lemon, juiced
  • 4 T brown sugar
  • salt, to taste
  • 100 g fresh ginger, finely sliced julienne
  • 1⁄2 cup water
  • 4 T canola oil
  • 8 g sesame seeds

Method

Ingredients

1. Thinly slice the cucumbers into rounds. Blend the celery, lemon juice, sugar, salt, half the ginger and the water until smooth.

2. Using a fine mesh strainer, strain the liquid into a container, squeezing out the excess liquid. Submerge the cucumber slices in the celery juice. Add the remaining ginger to the cucumber-celery mixture and chill for 1 hour.

3. Heat a pan and add the oil and sesame seeds. Fry gently over a medium heat until nutty and golden brown. Season with salt. To serve, arrange the cucumber salad on a serving platter and sprinkle with the sesame seeds. Top with charred chillies if you like.

Find more salad recipes here. 

Photographs: Toby Murphy
Production and Recipes: Khanya Mzongwana
Food Assistant: Kate Ferreira

Khanya Mzongwana

Recipe by: Khanya Mzongwana

If you're anything like our deputy food editor Khanya Mzongwana, you're obsessed with uniqueness and food with feeling. Cook her family-tested favourites, midweek winners and her mouth-wateringly fresh takes on plant-based eating.

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Comments

  • default
    Tania Steenkamp
    16 January 2022

    Very bland, way too much effort for little taste reward. 4T of sugar also makes this dressing way too sweet

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