Fresh cabbage is so versatile that it goes well in salads with many products: from vegetables to meat and seafood. Thanks to it, the salad becomes more friable, lighter and at the same time stimulates digestion, therefore this dish is well served with meat dishes or potatoes. This article offers the reader several recipes for fresh cabbage salad with cucumber and other vegetables. Various combinations of products with this useful vegetable will diversify the table and give new taste sensations.
Classic recipe
The most common fresh cabbage salad with cucumbers is simply prepared: 1/4 of the cabbage chopped, sprinkle with 0.5 tsp. salt and try slicing with your hands, imitating a batch of dough. This is done so that the cabbage is a little limp and let the juice go.
A bunch of fresh dill is finely chopped and added to the cabbage cut. Two cucumbers, sliced in half rings, and 1/2 onion, cut into very thin strips, go there. Next, prepare salad dressing: in a cup, mix two tablespoons of any vegetable oil with one spoon of vinegar, which, if desired, can be replaced with a teaspoon of lemon juice, diluted 1 tbsp. l water. Thoroughly mix the dressing and pour it over the finished salad.
A more satisfying option with ham
A similar principle is used to prepare a salad of fresh cabbage with cucumbers and ham, which for some reason is sometimes called "Berlin". It has a higher calorie content due to dressing with mayonnaise and a decent amount of ham or quality sausage, which is added at the end of cooking. Required product proportions:
- 1/4 head of cabbage;
- 2 fresh cucumbers;
- 300 grams of ham;
- 1/3 tsp salts;
- 1/4 tsp black pepper;
- 100 grams of mayonnaise.
Finely chop the cabbage, add the sliced cucumbers. Cut the ham into small cubes and also add to the common salad bowl. Grease the whole mass with mayonnaise mixed with spices and mix. Serve immediately with the main course.
Green salad
In the summer, when the riot of greenery is gaining strength and the body simply requires freshness and light food, you should prepare a salad of fresh cabbage and cucumbers with the addition of greenery.
To do this, we collect a little bit of everything:
- Leaves of spinach, green salad, arugula, parsley, dill in a total mass of 100 grams are torn by hands into pieces of medium size. Only dill and a little larger parsley are finely chopped.
- Shred 200 grams of cabbage and sprinkle with salt to taste, crush with your hands.
- Two cucumbers cut into rings. Mix all vegetables in one bowl.
There are two options for dressing: you can add 2 tbsp to the salad. l sour cream and mix well, and if you want a lower-calorie dish, then pour the dish with juice from half a lemon and 2-3 tbsp. l cold pressed vegetable oil. Ideal food for a light dinner!
With the addition of tomatoes
Fresh cabbage salad with cucumber can be prepared in the tradition of the Mediterranean, with the addition of bell pepper and tomatoes. For cooking, you need to take:
- One bell pepper, chopped in small strips.
- One tomato or two smaller, cut into medium sized pieces.
- Two cucumbers, chopped into slices.
- Some green onion feathers, chopped into small rings.
- 1/2 head of Beijing cabbage, cut into strips.
Mix the vegetables in one bowl and pour the usual dressing from the oil according to the recipe above or sour cream, mixed with a little black pepper and salt. You should also add some spices to your taste in a salad of cabbage, tomatoes and fresh cucumbers: it can be a few leaves of basil, a pinch of dried oregano or a little allspice chopped in a mortar.
From kohlrabi
Who said that fresh cabbage salad with cucumbers should be prepared only from traditional white cabbage? Why not move away from the usual look at the dish and cook kohlrabi cabbage, in which there are no less useful substances?
To prepare such a stylish salad, you should take one kohlrabi. We clean it and cut into strips. Grate one fresh cucumber on a grater for Korean carrots, by the way, you can also chop the cabbage in this way - then the finished salad will completely look like a Korean one. Mix the vegetables in a salad bowl and sprinkle with a small amount of finely chopped dill, a pinch of salt and 0.5 tsp. seeds of light sesame, which should first be fried a little in a dry pan to enhance the taste. We also add 50 grams of dried sunflower seeds and pour all the olive oil. The salad is extremely tasty and satisfying, it is often prepared by vegans as an addition to porridge or fried potatoes.
With celery and carrots
Lettuce salad has long been known to lovers of diets, fasting days and those who suffer from passive intestinal motility. This dish has a powerful effect on the body. His fans came up with several cooking options. Fresh cabbage salad with cucumbers and celery is one of them, and the following ingredients should be prepared for cooking:
- Celery root and carrots are taken in equal proportions: one hundred grams.
- Two hundred grams of white cabbage.
- Fresh cucumber or two smaller.
- A small bunch of parsley.
All vegetables are cut into thin strips, and parsley is finely chopped. This salad dressing is classic: a mixture of vegetable oil and vinegar with a little salt. All the ingredients must be thoroughly grinded, and then pour the sauce on the prepared salad. Due to the presence of cucumbers, the dish tastes more delicate than the version with raw beets and pumpkins - the classic version of “Whisk”. If desired, you can add a few feathers of green onions, cut into small rings - this will give the salad a touch of lightness and a more pronounced taste.
Red cabbage
This variety does not differ in taste from the “white-skinned” sister, so why not make such a salad of cucumbers and fresh cabbage? The recipe is standard: two hundred grams of red cabbage and a small onion finely chop, two cucumbers cut into cubes. Grind six fresh radishes in the same way, and finely chop a bunch of parsley. Mix all the ingredients in one salad bowl and pour dressing from one tablespoon of apple cider vinegar, 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil, a pinch of salt and black pepper.
The salad is very light and contains only 58 calories per serving, so nutritionists and losing weight ladies strongly recommend it to everyone.
How to chop the cabbage for the salad?
The key to success of fresh cabbage salad is the quality of the cut, because if the vegetable is cut into large strips, then the dish completely loses its taste and appearance. In order to properly chop the head of cabbage, you should know a few subtleties:
- If you plan to use the whole head of cabbage for slicing the salad, then it should be divided into four equal parts, cut crosswise, starting with the cob. Then chopped straws from the vegetable will be shorter, which is convenient when taking salad for food.
- If there is a grater for a shredder among the kitchen utensils - you should definitely use it, and not just try to make a neat straw with a knife. So you save time, energy and mood. On it, you can cut cucumbers into thin circles.
- If the cabbage is not used young (after all, you won’t find such cabbage in winter), then after cutting it is necessary to take it with your hands and leave it in this form for ten minutes. Then the salad from it will turn out softer, without hard slices, which means it will be more delicious.