Cucumbers were on sale at the market yesterday, so I made one of my favorite summer salads. I keep it pretty simple, but just taking a couple of extra steps make this salad special. First, I do not peel the cucumbers, rather I score them with a fork or this special tool my wife got when she was a Pampered Chef consultant. If you buy cucumbers that have wax on them to make them shiny, you can keep the skin on by washing the cukes well with a grease cutting dish detergent and hot water, otherwise you will have to peel them.Another step I take is to crisp up the cukes and get some of the water out of them by salting them well and letting them sit in a colander for an hour or so. Don't skip this step, it makes a difference in the final product.
Finally, if you have fresh dill available, use it. It is the dill that makes this "Norwegian style". You can use other fresh herbs such as mint which will give it a Middle Eastern twist, flat leaf parsley, or oregano, which will give it a Greek twist. Don't use any herbs if they are dry rather than fresh.
My last trick is to make the dish at a day before serving. Although you can eat it right away, allowing it to steep in the dressing and herbs, causes the flavors to develop and meld together.
Norwegian Style Cucumber Dill Salad
4 unwaxed cucumbers
1 medium onion
1 t. salt
Score cucumbers, slice thin. Slice onions thin. Mix in salt and allow to stand in colander for several hours.
1 c. white vinegar
3/4 c. sugar
3/4 c. water
a few twist of the pepper mill
1 T of fresh dill, chopped
Mix together the vinegar, sugar, water and pepper. Rinse the cuke mixture to remove some of the of the salt. Add to vinegar mixture. Add fresh dill. Refrigerate until service.
Enjoy!
