Cucumber Radish Salad

I’m a big believer in using quality ingredients and then getting out of the way, and this Cucumber Radish salad lets the fresh, crisp and vibrant flavors of cucumber, radish, celery, mint, chives, and dill shine. A touch of creamy goat cheese gives it that extra special creamy finish.

You can practically taste summer in every bite of this refreshing Cucumber Radish Salad. Pack it in a picnic, bring it to a potluck, serve it for dinner along with Grilled Salmon Burgers or your favorite Grilled Chicken Kabobs.

This 20-minute salad is loaded with crisp, cool ingredients, which means it also also balances spicy flavors beautifully. If heat is your thing, serve it with Grilled Harissa Chicken for a colorful meal that both heats you up and cools you down.

Sliced cucumbers, crispy radishes, and cool and crunchy celery form the foundation of the vegetable salad recipe. Fresh dill, chives and mint along with a simple vinaigrette create the rest of the vibrant, summer flavors in this colorful Cucumber Radish Salad. I finish the whole beautiful, cool, crisp and colorful salad with a tangy, creamy goat cheese. 

If fresh flavors are your jam and you’re looking for a Mediterranean Diet friendly salad recipe look no further! 

Table of Contents

1. Cucumber Radish Salad Ingredients 
1. For the Vinaigrette: 
2. For the Salad:
2. How to Make Cucumber and Radish Salad 
3. What to Serve with Cucumber Radish Salad
4. Refreshing Summer Salads
5. Cucumber Radish Salad Recipe

Cucumber Radish Salad Ingredients 

This salad is a gardener's dream! It uses so many fresh vegetables and herbs you'll think summer is endless. Don't worry, though, if you're thumb isn't green. A quick trip to the farmers market or your nearest grocery store will yield equally beautiful results.

For the Vinaigrette: 

• Extra-virgin olive oil and white wine vinegar are the basic ingredients for most vinaigrettes and that remains true for this recipe as well. I keep my cupboard well-stocked with olive oils. I like a strong olive oil for dressings and vinaigrettes so my go to is our Spanish Hojiblanca olive oil.  Should you find yourself out of white wine vinegar, swap in freshly squeezed lemon juice. 
• Shallots: I love the soft oniony flavor shallots bring to vinaigrettes. 
• Honey: A little sweetness from the honey balances the acidity from the vinegar and the peppery notes from the olive oil. I prefer the herbal notes of our Greek Honey, because the flavor is rich and deep, but use whatever honey you love.
• Sumac: This lovely spice adds a smokey, slightly sour background note to the salad. I like to use Sumac in dressings and vinaigrettes, on chicken or even sprinkled over Loaded Hummus. 
• Kosher salt: This is the original flavor enhancer. I like Kosher salt because it has a cleaner, softer flavor, but you could also use a scant ½ teaspoon of table salt instead.

For the Salad:

• English cucumber: I prefer English cucumbers because the skin is thin and the seeds are small so I don’t have to peel them. However, if you have a standard slicing cucumber just peel the skin if it seems tough or bitter, slice it lengthwise and use a spoon to scoop out the seeds, then slice into half moons. 
• Radishes: These colorful gems are underappreciated in my humble opinion. Sometimes they are spicy and sometimes they are mild. Late season radishes harvested in the high heat of summer tend to be spicier, while early season cool weather radishes have a milder flavor. 
• Celery: Celery provides a delightful extra crunch. 
• Fresh Herbs: So often fresh herbs are treated like a garnish, and sometimes that's a good place for them, but using them in larger quantities means the Dill, Chives, and Mint
• Goat cheese (chèvre): Many cheeses could fall under the goat cheese category, but in the US chevre a soft goat cheese commonly found in supermarkets tends to dominate the title. It’s tangy, soft, creamy and easy to crumble. You can even fry like in this Za’atar Goat Cheese recipe and eat as a snack or drop them in a bowl of Tomato Soup. 

How to Make Cucumber and Radish Salad 

This is not a complicated recipe. Make the vinaigrette, chop up some veggies and fresh herbs, mix together and finish with goat cheese. Here’s how to do it! 

• Make the dressing: In a salad bowl, combine olive oil, shallots, white wine vinegar, honey, sumac and kosher salt.
• Make the salad: Combine cucumber, radishes, celery, dill, chives, mint in the bowl with the dressing. Toss to combine. Top with crumbled goat cheese, freshly cracked pepper, and a sprinkle of salt. Serve immediately.

What to Serve with Cucumber Radish Salad

This is the salad to make when it’s hot outside and you want to eat something cool, refreshing and colorful on the table. If you’re a gardener, cucumber radish salad is a great way to use up all of that gorgeous produce.

You can, of course, enjoy this vegetable salad exactly as it is but you can also dress it up with any of the ingredients below:

• Toss in a can of rinsed and drained Great Northern Beans and a drizzle of Pesto.
• Add a can of tuna or shredded chicken.
• Spread Labneh on a plate, drizzle with olive oil a little aleppo pepper and pile this Cucumber Radish Salad on top of it.  

Make a meal out of it and serve this vegetable salad with Grilled Chicken Thighs, whip up a pitcher of Red Sangria and have some Frozen Yogurt for dessert. Don't forget to invite your friends for dinner! You'll be glad you did.

Refreshing Summer Salads

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