Cucumber, Pickled Onion, Feta & Yoghurt Salad
Easy
Prep 15 min
I sincerely love yoghurt and the versility of being able to use it in so many ways for sweet, savoury, fresh and cooked dishes. I was invited to work with Queenslands’ Maleny Dairies to come up with some recipes for their deliciously thick natural yoghurt. I jumped at the opportunity. When I think about creating recipes ideas, it’s about featuring the key ingredient, and then working around what I have or what I can use to showcase the ingredient. This Cucumber, pickled onion, feta and yoghurt salad came about because my brother, lending his hand to gardening, ended up with an abundance of home grown cucumbers. He was dropping off bags to me on my request, not knowing there would be 30 or so dropped off at one time. So I began madly juicing, pickling and looking for ways to use this cooling fruit.
I love this Cucumber salad because is it has everything you could want in flavour. The tangy bite of the quick pickled onions, crisp crunchy cucumber, creamy thick Queensland Maleny Dairies Natural Yoghurt, salty feta and the hint of fresh mint, dill, garlic and lemon…what more could you want in a salad.
The versitility of this Cucumber salad is wonderful. Furthermore you can add boiled potatoes, cooked grains, cooked eggs, sliced cooked lamb or chicken, grated zucchini, spinach or your favourite salad leaves to bulk out the dish or change it up. Experiment at home by using ingredients you have to create your own version.
Ingredients
- 2 large long cucumbers or 5-6 smaller cucumbers
- 1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 1/2 tsp red wine vinegar
- good pinch of salt
- 1 tsp dried parsley
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 2 tblsp fresh dill, chopped
- 2 tblsp mint leaves, chopped
- 1 clove of garlic, minced
- 1 cup Natural Yoghurt
- 1 tblsp lemon juice
- 80g feta
- 1 tsp sumac (optional)
Recipe Steps
-
- In a small bowl, stir together the red onion, olive oil, vinegar, dried parsley and dried oregano. Let the onions marinate at room temperature for at least 10 minutes while preparing the rest of the salad.
- If you are using garden fresh cucumbers you will find they may have tiny spikes all over them. Wipe off the spikes with a damp cloth and slice the cucumbers into 3-5 mm rounds and place them into a large bowl. Crumble in the feta.
- In a jug or another bowl combine the yoghurt with the minced garlic, lemon juice, dill, mint, and salt.
- Pour the yoghurt dressing over the cucumbers and then pour in the onions with their liquid. Toss the salad together and garnish with the sumac ( optional), you can also top the salad with extra mint and dill. The salad is best enjoyed straight away or on the same day you make it.
- If you leave the salad over night you will find that the cucumbers will release a small amount of water, this is natural, you can simple stir this through the salad or drain it off .