simple healthy cucumber salad

Name: simple healthy cucumber salad
Prep time: 10 min
Total time: 10 min
Yield: 6 cups
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons rice vinegar; 1 teaspoon sugar; ½ teaspoon salt; 2 tablespoons chopped chives, optional; 6 cups sliced cucumbers

by Katie | May 20, 2014 | Side Dishes, Soups and Salads | 39 comments

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Have you tried this recipe for simple healthy cucumber salad with chives yet? It’s super easy to make and only 19 calories per serving. Fat-free, paleo-friendly, vegan and gluten-free.

What Inspired This Cucumber Salad Recipe

I hesitate calling this healthy cucumber salad a recipe because it is so darned simple, even a caveman could whip this up. With his eyes closed. But I am calling it one, and I am sharing it because sometimes it’s okay to share no-brainer uber simple recipes, right? Especially ones that taste amazing and ones that you will make all summer long. And ones that are completely fat-free, vegan and gluten-free? That’s okay right?

And it’s also okay because May is National Salad Month. You. Didn’t. Know!!? (feigns incredulous dismay) That’s okay, I didn’t know either. At the end of April, I was thinking about doing a month of salads for the month of June. Then I posted this risotto on May 2nd and what do you know? I got an email from a PR rep about something or other and she said, “As you know, May is National Salad Month.” I was like, “Um No! I didn’t know and now I am totally doing it!”

So, anywhoo, we’re going to ignore the little risotto incident for now. And I am going to go about my business continuing to share a couple of different salads with you each week all month long. So far I have shared:

Spinach Salad with Steak Onion and Date Kebabs with Orange and Blue Cheese

Marinated Mushroom and Fiddlehead Salad with Swiss Cheese

Lemony Carrot Salad with Mustard Seeds and Feta

Grilled Potato Salad with Ramps

So I thought this easy cucumber salad with chives would be a nice basic contrast with the others I have done so far. Even though cucumbers aren’t in season yet here in Vermont, they will be in season elsewhere soon enough. And once they start appearing in the garden and farmers markets it is hard to keep up with them. So inevitably, you’ll make this quick cucumber salad recipe over and over. It is completely fat-free, and so easy to make. I used my mandoline to make it and it was so simple.

How to Make Cucumber Salad

Like I said, this healthy cucumber salad recipe is so easy to make that it hardly counts as a real recipe. Here’s how I like to make this quick and easy cucumber salad:

1. Make the dressing — The dressing for this cucumber salad is a mixture of rice vinegar, sugar, and salt. It has just the right amount of tang to it and isn’t too sweet, which is one of the many reasons I love this simple cucumber salad. I added chopped chives to my dressing as well, but they’re completely optional.

2. Mix with the cucumbers — Make sure to thinly slice the cucumbers. I used a mandoline to ensure my slices were super thin, but a knife works just as well. Stir the cucumber slices with the vinegar dressing and enjoy!

See? This is the perfect non-recipe kind of recipe.

How to Store Cucumber Salad

Keep this healthy cucumber salad in a sealed container in the fridge. It should last up to five days, maybe a little longer. As the cucumber slices sit in the dressing, they’ll release a good amount of liquid. Before serving the leftover cucumber salad, give it a good stir to redistribute the dressing.

What I Have Been Reading This Week:

Are you relevant by Todd

The idea for Anne’s yummy sounding salad with shrimp on top has gotten me thinking that Salad Month may have to continue into June!

A beautiful 10 minute kale salad by Ali with Strawberries and such.

No is essential by Seth

And we also stayed our first nights at our new summer cottage on Lake Champlain. We started moving in and even hung a little artwork. Pinch me please!

Don’t miss this Ultimate Guide to Cucumbers!

More Healthy Salad Recipes:

Grilled Corn and Chickpea Salad

Mediterranean Black Lentil Salad

Healthy Greek Yogurt Pasta Salad with Ham and Peas

Southwest Cobb Kale Salad

Green Salad with Chicken, Strawberries, and Goat Cheese