Spiralized Cucumber Salad

Here’s a fun salad (I love when the words “fun” and “salad” appear side by side!) to make with a spiral slicer. Cucumbers become practically calorie-free “noodles,” gently embellished with lime, agave, and sesame seeds.

Serves: 4

• 2 medium cucumbers, peeled (choose cucumbers
  that are firm and flavorful, not watery and filled
  with seeds)
• Salt
• 2 tablespoons lime juice, or more, to taste
• 1 tablespoon agave nectar, or more, to taste
• 1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro or parsley
• 1 scallion, very thinly sliced, optional
• 2 tablespoons coconut flakes, optional
• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds (black or regular)
• Freshly ground pepper to taste

Cut the cucumbers in half crosswise, and spiralize them using the blade with the finest holes. Place the cucumbers in a colander and salt them gently, using your hands to distribute the salt. Place the colander in the sink and let stand for 5 to 10 minutes. Don’t skip this step, or you’ll end up with a watery salad!

Press out as much water as you can through the holes of the colander. You can do this with a wide spatula, or cover the cucumber with a couple of layers of paper towel and just press with your palm.

Transfer the cucumber to a serving bowl and cut here and there with kitchen shears to shorten the strands a bit. Add the lime juice. Let stand for 5 minutes longer, then drain again.

Add the remaining ingredients, then taste to add back in a bit more lime or any of the other flavorings if you’d like; at this point the cucumber will be nice and crisp. Serve at once.

• Explore more of VegKitchen’s super savory salads.
• Try some other raw veggie “noodle” dishes.
• See VegKitchen’s review of the World Cuisine Spiral Slicer.