Well, I’m back from a couple whirlwind weekends of travel to the West coast. My mom, sister, and I had a fantastic time in San Francisco soaking up each other’s company and plenty of glorious California sunshine. My skin has gone from ghostly white to slightly not ghostly white with a hint of funky sandal tan lines. Success. After the conference in Portland, my sleep-deprived self came down with a bad cold the day before I traveled to SF, so I was a sniffling and sneezing mess during most of the second trip. Luckily, my loving travel companions, the sunny blue skies, and plenty of food & wine helped me heal. Ok, maybe not the wine part, but when in Napa…
I must say, it’s been a shock to my system to be back to my normal work routine. It’s always good to be home though. I returned with plenty of fun recipe inspiration, some of which you’ll likely see on the blog in the weeks to come and some of which I might sneak into the book if I can find the time (and do so without my editor killing me!). Either way, it’s true what they say – a break is always good for the creative spirit. Being in this type of work, I tend to constantly struggle with ebbs and flows of the creative process, especially during recent intense months. I’m only now realizing that sometimes stepping away and being less productive is exactly the thing I need to be more productive. Or at least that made total sense to me after a couple glasses of wine.
[photo credit: Eric Liddon]
We dined at a Thai restaurant in SF called Thai House 530 on our last evening. I ordered the cucumber salad as an appetizer and the Pineapple Fried Rice (made vegan) for my main. The salad reminded me of sweet and sour pickles (a childhood favourite!) and I just couldn’t get enough of the tangy, sweet combo and the hydrating cucumbers. What a lovely way to start a meal. After devouring the salad I made a mental note to give this salad a whirl once home. I’ll probably need a couple days until I’m ready to tackle more involved cooking feats, but this simple recipe was a great way to ease back into it all.
My version of this salad is more tangy/acidic while the restaurant version was much more on the sweet side. I generally tend to prefer more acid in my dishes, but you can decide for yourself if you’d like to add more sweetener to balance it out. The beauty of this simple rice vinegar and sugar dressing is that you can adjust it easily. I also threw in a handful of cilantro and topped it with chopped peanuts which are both encouraged additions. Some recipes also include a diced jalapeno pepper, but I decided to leave it out. Feel free to add one if you’d prefer some heat.
To make it a protein-packed meal, I roasted chickpeas in a garlic, cumin, ginger, chili, and turmeric spice mix. The roasted chickpeas are a nice option if you want to take this salad from an appetizer to a main course (I enjoyed it for lunch!), but the salad is nice on its own too.
Featuring all new, protein-packed salads, hearty toppers, flavour boosters, and dressings you'll want to drink, my new cookbook will transform the way you think about salads. Oh, and be sure to flip to the back for a surprise dessert chapter!
Thai-Inspired Cucumber Salad with Roasted Spiced Chickpeas
Yield
3 servings
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
A hydrating, Thai-style cucumber salad topped with crunchy spiced chickpeas.
Ingredients
For the dressing
- 1/2 cup seasoned rice vinegar
- 1.5-2 tablespoons natural cane sugar, to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
For the salad
- 2 medium field cucumbers
- 1 red pepper, diced
- 1 cup diced red onion
- 1/4 cup roughly chopped cilantro
- 1/4 cup chopped roasted peanuts, for garnish
- Roasted spiced chickpeas
Directions
- Whisk dressing ingredients together in a small bowl and adjust to taste. Feel free to add more sweetener if you prefer. Set aside.
- Peel cucumbers, slice off the ends, and slice in half lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds with a small spoon (see photo in post if necessary). Slice halves into 1/8-inch “half moons” and toss into a large bowl. If your cucumbers are really big you can slice the half-moons in half as well.
- Dice the red pepper and red onion and add into bowl. Roughly chop cilantro and add into bowl. Pour in all the dressing and toss to combine. Let this salad sit for about 30 minutes in the fridge, tossing every 10 minutes or so to help the dressing soak in.
- Meanwhile, prepare the roasted chickpeas (if desired). Recipe follows.
- Portion into bowls and top with peanuts and optional roasted chickpeas. Serve immediately.
Nutrition Information
(click to expand)
Enjoy!
I love this salad. I wanna do the same.
Wow healthy salad. I wanna try this too. Keep posting
Made this salad this afternoon! LOVED IT!
Chickpeas are my jam… Love this!
This was a light, delicious, refreshing salad! I’m not a big fan of raw bell peppers, but the dressing really balances the flavors. 5 stars! When I’m bored of my own cooking, or have recipe block, I will do a few days of vegetarian cooking to mix things up. That’s what brought me to your site. So far, the whole family has loved your recipes and the ones that have been inspired by the beautiful pictures.
Thank you, I’m so happy to hear this!
Good salad that was even better the next day. I really think the flavors just marinate so well after it sits a bit! just loved it. Did not fair so well with the roasted chickpeas tho, so I will save those for … Hummus ! Love your recipes and your blog overall. One my favorite things to do on a Sunday afternoon, thanks Angie.
This is the greatest salad ever!! My wife who usually claims salad is not an adequate dinner, keeps asking me to make this again and again!
I’ve made this dish twice now and it’s a huge success at BBQ’s and my 4-year-old daughter. Love the chickpeas in this!
What a delicious salad! Full of healthy ingredients too. Can’t wait to try it
Hi Angela! I am a newbie on your website, and so far have tried this salad, the green monster and the black bean and potato nacho plate – and LOVED all of them! Thank you so much for sharing these recipes and your story – both are very inspiring, nourishing the body and the mind :-)
ohmygoodness! Yum!!! The salad is so cool and refreshing. I love how it is so simple but so flavorful and satisfying! I had never made roasted chickpeas before, but I will be doing it more often now! SOOO tasty and easy to do! It was hard not to eat them all right off the baking sheet; had to force myself to save some for the salad. Thank you for another awesome recipe!!!
It’s not raw if you have to turn your oven to 400 to roast the damned garbanzos. Just sayin.
Okay, I am into salads and all kinds of but not once have I stumbled on something this exotic! One thing that I really appreciate about this particular meal is the way you have decided to think outside the box -making use of a theme from the Oriental cultures.
The whole dish actually looks very delicious. Obviously, you have made very good use of the chickpeas (roasted and spiced!) and it all looks so yummy that I actually feel like having a try right now! I intend to try it out too, but in a peculiar way, I will be using very different spices! I really hope it comes out well.
This salad is delicious! Thanks Angela!
What a delightful salad! My husband came home from 3 weeks away of reluctantly chowing down on fast food and said, “Please. Feed me clean food.” So I made him this! I added some creamy coconut brown rice so that we’ll have leftovers. This is DEFINITELY a winner. Thank you for being awesome.
Have to share something! I’ve made this salad a few times and thoroughly enjoyed it as is. But today, on a whim I served this on top of some quinoa I had prepared earlier for the (Veganomicon) pineapple-cashew stirfry. The quinoa was cooked in freshly made pineapple juice with a splash of soy sauce. WOW – what a great combo! Satisfying and delicious!
Wow this was simply delicious!! I made it yesterday for my sister’s birthday party and all I could hear was my dad claiming it was the best salad ever….every 5 minutes pretty much :) The taste was just so refreshing. Thx again for another perfectly exquisite recipe!
Oh my god. Just made this and I think it may possibly be the greatest salad of all time!
What is the serving size for this salad? 1/2 cup 1 cup Maybe?
Stumbled into this website searching for something inspiring for dinner this week. Made this dish tonight and the veggie pad thai last night. What wonderful dishes! I think this one tonight is definitely my favorite. I love chickpeas. Now I know to roast ’em with spices to make a meal or a tasty snack! Thank you.