Cucumber salad: Ancient flavor with a modern health twist

Cucumber salad is an excellent choice for hot days—it works great as a refreshing snack, a side dish for dinner, or alongside grilled delicacies. It is not only tasty but also easy to prepare. It's worth enriching it with a particular additional ingredient.

Cucumber, belonging to the gourd family, originates in Asia. To this day, wild varieties of this plant can be found at the foothills of the Himalayas. In India, it was cultivated as early as three thousand years before our era and eventually gained popularity in Egypt, Greece, and the Apennine Peninsula. In the Roman Empire, it was valued for its refreshing properties and often consumed on hot days.

The popularity of cucumbers has not waned over the centuries. Christopher Columbus took its seedlings aboard his ships, establishing crops in Haiti. Soon, the juicy vegetable became popular in both Americas.

Salads made from fresh cucumbers are still very popular. Besides the traditional one, many tasty and refreshing dishes can be prepared with the addition of onions, peppers, avocados, or ginger, enriched with various sauces. It's worth adding coriander seeds to these salads, which go perfectly with cucumbers, giving them a pleasant, slightly citrusy taste.

Cucumber salads are not only tasty but also healthy. Cucumber is 95% water, low in calories, and effectively quench thirst. It provides valuable nutrients such as phenolic compounds. Flavonoids, found in cucumbers, positively affect the circulatory system by strengthening blood vessels and lowering blood pressure. Lignans, which are phytoestrogens, exhibit anti-cancer properties, reduce levels of "bad" LDL cholesterol, and alleviate symptoms associated with menopause. Cucumber is also a source of vitamin C, B vitamins, and minerals such as calcium, iron, magnesium, and potassium. It acts as an alkaline agent, neutralizing excess acids in the body. This helps prevent many ailments, such as weakened immunity, headaches, constant fatigue, and drowsiness.

It is worth adding coriander seeds to cucumber salads because they not only have a delicious spicy-nutty-orange flavor and aroma but are also rich in essential oils, especially linalool, which has anti-inflammatory, calming, anxiolytic, and antispasmodic properties. This helps improve intestinal peristalsis, stimulates appetite, and helps deal with stomach pains, bloating, and diarrhea. Coriander seeds are also a source of vitamin C and other antioxidants, which strengthen immunity and neutralize the harmful activity of free radicals, delaying aging processes and the development of cancers.

The substances in coriander seeds can help lower bad LDL cholesterol levels, control the digestion process of lipids, and protect against cardiovascular diseases. Additionally, the components of coriander support insulin secretion, maintaining blood glucose levels at appropriate levels.

Preparing a cucumber salad is extremely simple, especially the traditional one. One pound of fresh cucumbers should be washed and peeled (although some recipes allow leaving the peel on). The cucumbers sliced thinly, are sprinkled with salt, mixed, and set aside for fifteen minutes. After this time, the extracted juice is drained away. This procedure is recommended for every dish with fresh cucumbers.

Next, 7 oz of 18% cream (without additives such as thickeners and stabilizers) is poured into a bowl, a small amount of sugar is added, along with salt, pepper, lemon juice or apple cider vinegar (one teaspoon), and finely chopped dill. All ingredients are mixed thoroughly. The cucumbers are drizzled with the resulting sauce and sprinkled with coriander seeds. The salad is then chilled in the refrigerator.

Sliced, salted, and drained cucumbers, thinly sliced peppers (e.g., jalapeños), white or red onion, garlic, avocado, or chives can also be added. The salad is mixed with a sauce based on rice vinegar and agave syrup or soy sauce, sesame oil, and rice vinegar—all ingredients in equal proportions. Before serving, the dish is sprinkled with sesame seeds or finely chopped peanuts.