Author Notes
My husband, whose Food52 handle is eateronly, claims that he doesn't cook, but every now and then he surprises me. He grew up in Astoria, Queens, and his father owned a grocery store. They made cucumber salad regularly. So even though, when we were first married, my husband had knives so dull that you couldn't cut butter with them, he had a mandolin to slice vegetables for his cucumber salad. He recently began making it with all sorts of vegetables, and even added the red pepper flakes for a little heat. You can use whatever vegetables you like, but they should be sliced as thin as possible. Add some rinsed canned white beans to make this a main dish salad. —drbabs
Ingredients
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1/3 cup
white or red wine vinegar
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2/3 cup
water
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1 tablespoon
sugar
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1 teaspoon
kosher salt
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1/2 teaspoon
fresh ground black pepper (or to taste)
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1/4 teaspoon
red pepper flakes (or to taste)
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1
cucumber, thinly sliced with a mandolin
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1/2
red onion, thinly sliced with a mandolin
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2
carrots, thinly sliced with a mandolin
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1
red or yellow bell pepper, thinly sliced with a mandolin
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3
radishes, thinly sliced with a mandolin
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2
inner stalks, celery, thinly sliced with a mandolin
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1-2 teaspoons
parsley leaves
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1 can small white beans, rinsed (if you want this to be a main dish salad)
Directions
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Mix together the vinegar, water, sugar and salt. Stir to dissolve sugar and salt. Add Black pepper and red pepper flakes. Stir in vegetables and beans if using. Refrigerate. Scatter parsley leaves on top. Refrigerate till serving; it will keep for several days in the refrigerator.
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