My New Favorite Summer Salad

It's garden season here at the farm. We don't have a large garden like my father-in-law planted here years ago. But Daddy-O does plant enough for us to enjoy fresh salads during the summer. Cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes. And there is always yellow squash.

When those squash plants start to produce, it's crazy. We are overloaded with squash for a couple of weeks or so. And then it's over. Thankfully, not every vegetable is of the "come-and-gone" kind. The cucumbers just come and come and come and come.

This was the very first harvest. The next day, I sent this much more home with a friend. The following day, I took another bag to my sister. I've taken bags and bags of cucumbers to church for the teens at the summer work camp this week. Evidently, they love the cukes-and-onions-in-vinegar-sugar-water. And the friend who got the first bag of extras have taken cucumbers home two more times. We cannot eat up the cucumbers fast enough. But it's fun to share. Last night Daddy-O picked another basket full right before dark.

I have already done the cucumbers-and-onions-in vinegar several times. We love that! It only takes a minute to do. I don't even measure anything anymore. It's good beside a sandwich and we even love it as a snack. I've made microwave pickles.That recipe is so easy I did them on Sunday before we left for church.

And then I found a new-to-us recipe. A lovely, light cucumber salad. We had it as a side dish with roast beef from my freezer stash and mashed potatoes. (The potatoes came from our cousin's garden. He lives just down the road and plants many things we don't. That works well for us!)

This recipe has been around forever. I had everything on hand to give it a try. Glad I did, because it's a keeper. Again, I didn't measure a thing, but I'm giving you an actual "recipe" as a starting place. After I mixed mine, I tasted and adjusted the seasonings. Mine needed a little more salt and dill. Do it that way and you won't have to go find the "recipe" when you want to make this.

CREAMY CUCUMBER SALAD

2-3 cucumbers, thinly sliced
1/4 Vidalia onion (a sweet white onion,) thinly sliced
1/3 cup sour cream
juice of half a lemon
1 heaping tablespoon chopped fresh dill
salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Mix cucumbers and onion in a large bowl. In a smaller bowl, mix remaining ingredients and stir until blended. Pour over cucumbers and stir to combine. Garnish with more dill and serve.


UPDATE: Since I wrote this, I've made this sour cream version two more times. Yum!