ISO: Sweet & Sour Cucumber Salad

[Deanna]

Okay, I'm on another mission...today at the salad bar of one of my favorite supermarkets, I had a dish called "Sweet and Sour Cucumber Salad."

Now...before you all get to thinking I'm slow, let me tell you this one was different. I grew up eating cucumbers sliced with onion, vinegar and sugar, which many people call "Sweet and Sour" cucumbers.

This one had something like an orange vinaigrette and a touch of fresh cilantro along with the thinly sliced baby cucumbers. Not sure that I even recall onion, although it could have been grated rather than chopped or sliced and included in the vinaigrette. There were tiny bits of fresh orange and it was very pretty as well as tasty.

Has ANYONE ever had this? I may just have to contact the deli department and ask them for the recipe!

[Beth]

I haven't had anything like that, but my husband is a cucumber fanatic. He's even made cucumber salad the one non-fruit salad my two boys will eat. We do several variations, but not one with orange and cilantro. If you do get the recipe, would you post it? Any chilies in it? That sounds good too.

[Deanna]

I did a lot of searching on the web last night looking for this recipe, but no luck.

I will try to contact the supermarket deli and ask them for the recipe. If I'm successful, I'll post it here.

This one didn't have any chilies in it, but I do make a great Thai-style cucumber and hot chili relish...

[ElinorC]

The cucumbers sound really yummy. Would love to have the recipe if and when you get it!

[lorilei]

This might not be even close, but I thought I'd post it in case anyone was interested... no cilantro, but it sounds good. I think you could make it without the lettuce.

ORANGE & CUCUMBER SALAD

1 large head Boston or bibb lettuce
3 medium Florida Oranges, peeled, halved, thinly sliced, and seeded
1 large cucumber, thinly sliced
1/4 cup frozen Florida Orange Juice Concentrate, thawed
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 or 2 tablespoons salad oil
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon snipped fresh mint or 1/2 tsp dried mint, crushed

Line 6 salad plates with lettuce. Arrange orange and cucumber slices in circles atop lettuce.

For dressing, in a screw-top jar combine thawed concentrate, vinegar, salad oil, honey, mint, and dash pepper. Cover and shake well. Drizzle over salads.

-------------------------

And another I thought you might like...

CUCUMBER FENNEL SALAD

1 large Cucumber, peeled, halved, & sliced
1 sm Fennel bulb, trimmed & slivered
2 ts Lemon juice
2 tb Walnuts, chopped & toasted

VINAIGRETTE
2 tb Orange juice
2 tb Walnut oil
1 tb Fresh mint
1 tb Cilantro, chopped
1/8 ts Paprika, sweet or hot
Salt & pepper

SALAD: Combine salad ingredients in a serving bowl & gently mix.

VINAIGRETTE: In a small bowl, whisk all ingredients until emulsified. Season with salt & pepper & pour over salad. Serve immediately or marinate, covered, in the fridge for 1 to 2 hours. Toss before serving & garnish with toasted nuts.

[lorilei]

Hmm... I found this jicama salad that sounds suspiciously like that cucumber salad... only with jicama.

Jicama Salad with Orange and Cilantro

3 pounds jicama, peeled, diced
2 cucumbers, thinly sliced
1 1/2 cups orange juice
6 tablespoons chopped cilantro
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
6 large oranges, peeled, diced
Olive oil
Vinegar

Combine first 4 ingredients in large bowl. Chill 4 hours. Drain.

Transfer jicama to large bowl. Add oranges and cucumbers. Drizzle with oil and vinegar to taste. Toss well and serve.

[Deanna]

Lorilei, I think you are right! Sounds VERY much like the salad I had.

By the way, I contacted the supermarket deli this morning and they told me the recipe is a "Corporate Secret". I told them unfortunately, I'll be making a different cucumber salad to bring to my 4th of July picnic...and by the way...I'll be buying the ingredients and the balance of my groceries, elsewhere!

What do they have to gain by refusing to share a recipe? I told them I shop there all the time and would most certainly be buying my 4th of July ingredients there tomorrow...it didn't help!

[lorilei]

Hmph. That's a bit rude.
And strange, I think, since you can usually get recipes easily -- even from some of the best restaurants, just by asking. It's not as if they would lose your business by giving away the "corporate secret" http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif Ah, well. You'll probably end up with an even /better/ recipe in the end!!

[Deanna]

Lorilei, any chance that recipe had # of servings? I'm taking a wild guess and entering 12. What do you think?

[tammy/MN]

most likely, they didn't even know themselves. don't they usually just get it from their distributor? & don't they have to disclose the ingredients by law? now that everything had to come w/ a nutritional breakdown? what if you were allergic to an ingredient? i would try calling the deli manager, maybe the flunkies just didn't want to bother!

[Deanna]

Hmmm....Tammy, I think you are right about disclosing the ingredients...however I did talk to the deli manager and that is who told me it was a big SECRET.

They do make the dishes on the salad bar from scratch, rather than buying them in tubs from an outside distributor.

I've pretty much given up on getting the recipe from them, and I'm going to try the jicama/cucumber salad that lorilei posted. It looks very close.

[lorilei]

No clue about that recipe's servings. Sorry, Deanna. I would guess between 10-12, though. That's quite a bit of jicama... http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

[Beth]

Deanna, I tried to post a reply last night when AOL shut me down. Just wanted to say good luck with the recipe. The jicama combo sounds like a good start, and I'm going to try it to. I like rice wine with cucumber salads.

Same day your deli mgr was protecting his "corporate secrets" my husband came home from the local Mail Boxes Etc and told me couple called his store and was told they had a notary until 5 p.m., but when they got there at 3:30, the notary was gone for the day....but the owner wouldn't call the store down the road to see if they had a notary because it was his competitor. Not anymore, they are the new business winners.

I was in the store about a week earlier and heard one of the kids working for this guy tell a woman to go around the corner to the realtor's office. Sounds like the kid is smarter than his boss. Think the boss man should have to watch Miracle on 34th Street 100 times. What's happened to service?

[Deanna]

Good point, Beth. I don't see what that supermarket felt they would LOSE by sharing the recipe.

Anyhoo...I'm a big fan of rice wine vineger myself. And seasoned rice wine vinegar with a teaspoon of toasted sesame oil is one of my favorite salad dressings.