Cucumber Salad With Choices!

From either our own garden or from the generosity of our family or friends, we enjoy a bounty of cucumbers every summer and love the cool, refreshing taste of cucumber salads. Here is my basic recipe with a variety of options to change it to your liking and depending on what herbs you might be growing.

• Ready In: 15 mins
• Serves: 6

Ingredients

• 4  cups  thinly sliced cucumbers (about 4)
• 1  tablespoon kosher salt
• 1  small onion, thinly sliced (red or sweet onions work well)

• Dressing

• 3⁄4 cup white vinegar
• 1⁄4 cup white sugar
• 2  garlic cloves, minced (or 1 t. jarred minced garlic)
• 1  tablespoon  vegetable oil
• 1⁄4 teaspoon black pepper, ground
• 1  tablespoon  chopped fresh dill, mint (your choice or *optional) or 1  tablespoon chives (your choice or *optional)
• 1  cup  Greek yogurt (or use sour cream, *optional, add either only if you want a creamy salad)

Directions

1. Put the sliced cucumbers in colander over a large bowl or in the sink and then sprinkle cucumbers with the salt. Cover with a plate that is weighed down by a heavy (1 lb) can, for 30 minutes (this removes the excessive water content from the cucumber). After draining the cucumbers for those 30 minutes, rinse cucumbers briefly (this removes some of the salt) with fresh water and then allow to drain for another 15 minutes.
2. In a quart jar add the first 5 salad dressing ingredients and then your choice of herb of your liking. If you want a creamy dressing add in the yogurt and then shake or blend the dressing until it is smooth.
3. Place drained cucumbers and thinly sliced onions into a bowl and pour the dressing over all, stir to mix. Then chill the salad for an hour or up to several days, and then serve.