This refreshing easy cucumber salad recipe is perfect for any summer meal! Easy and simple enough for a weeknight meal, elegant enough for a fancy dinner.
The best thing about summer is being able to make salads from the garden. I have cucumbers that are almost ready to pick and peppers on the way, both of which make this salad fantastic. This cucumber salad recipe is an old family recipe, one that my mother made frequently growing up. This isn’t your typical creamy dill cucumber salad, it’s more of a vinaigrette dressing with really simple seasonings. It’s the perfect summer pairing for any meal.
You can use only cucumbers in it, or you can dress it up with peppers, tomatoes, or even avocado. My favorite combination is cucumbers and peppers. I’m growing some yellow cucumbers this year and I can’t wait to make this salad with the green and yellow cucumbers and my red and orange peppers – how pretty will that be?!
I have so many great memories associated with this salad. Growing up we had a large pergola in our backyard that was covered with wisteria {my job to trim it all!} and an outdoor table that sat underneath it.
We ate outside in the summertime more often than we ate inside, and this salad was always a staple. Sometimes the veggies were homegrown, sometimes we would be disappointed to find we had only produced bitter cucumbers that year. {Crossing my fingers that isn’t my luck this year…} Either way, this cucumber salad recipe brings back memories of those days.
It reminds me why family dinner is important. It reminds me that slowing down long enough in the evening to eat together regularly will bring you closer to the ones you love than almost anything else. It reminds me that simple meals create lasting memories, and not everything needs to be fancy to be impactful. This simple cucumber salad recipe reminds me that love is homegrown and homemade, and so is happiness.
Are you impressed I get all this from a cucumber salad recipe? Ha!! Well, food was and is such a big part of my life, I’m a firm believer that it has the ability to bring people together in a way nothing else can. That’s why I share my recipes! I want you all to experience that magic at the dinner table as well.
And before you roll your eyes, don’t worry. We had plenty of fights, arguments, and less-than-peaceful meals growing up. But I don’t remember those, I only remember that we had dinner together all the time and that is where we talked, laughed, teased {mostly teased}, and ate. I want my kids to have those same memories.
What are your favorite memories centered around food? Share them in the comments below. I can’t wait to hear!
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Easy Cucumber Salad Recipe
This refreshing easy cucumber salad recipe is perfect for any summer meal! Easy and simple enough for a weeknight meal, elegant enough for a fancy dinner.
Ingredients
- 2 cucumbers sliced thin
- 1 red bell pepper color your choice, diced
- 1/2 cup purple onion sliced thin, about half of an onion
- 2 1/2 lemons juiced, see note
- 1/3 cup olive oil see note
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
Toss cucumber, bell pepper, and onion together.
Season with salt and pepper.
Squeeze lemon juice onto the vegetables, start with one lemon and wait to add the rest.
Add olive oil and taste, adjust lemon and salt and pepper if needed. I like mine extra tart! Don't be shy with the salt, it needs quite a bit.
Recipe Notes
The amount of lemon juice you use is up to you, I use 1 1/2 lemons that are medium sized. Do what tastes good!
Michele says
This is a very nice salad! Thanks for the recipe & idea…
Alli says
Thank you, Michele!
Alli says
Easy and fresh salad, love it!