Homemade Yogurt Cucumber Salad

Refreshing and health-conscious, this Homemade Yogurt Cucumber Salad recipe is one of my personal favorites. It takes mere minutes to prepare and if kept refrigerated in an air-tight container, the batch will stay edible for several days – not that it lasts that long. This is a charming and light counter flavor with Indian curries or just a nice treat with some pita or naan bread. I favor enjoying it alongside naan coated with Savory Mediterranean Spread.

We used to have a yogurt machine (a fab wedding gift, by the way), but the electrical conversion between the U.S. and Ireland made us nervous enough to not bring it with us. We miss it, but find that at less than a Euro for a pint of plain yogurt, we can manage with store-bought. However, for those who want to make yogurt at home, Stephanie O’Dea’s A Year of Slow Cooking blog has a recipe so You Can Make Yogurt in Your Crockpot. The recipe is also on pages 59-60 of O’Dea’s book, Make It Fast, Cook It Slow: The Big Book of Everyday Slow Cooking.

Homemade Yogurt Cucumber Salad

2 tablespoons olive oil

Juice from 1 lime and 1 lemon

1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint

1 teaspoon chopped or minced fresh coriander

1 teaspoon chopped dried basil

½ teaspoon dried herbs de Provence

½ teaspoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon chopped roasted garlic

2 cups (16 ounces) plain unsweetened, unflavored yogurt

Freshly ground black pepper

Salt, to taste

1 cucumber, sliced

1. Emulsify the olive oil with the lemon and lime juices. Whisk in the mint, coriander, basil, herbs de Provence, and garlic powder. Once mixed thoroughly, add the roasted garlic.

2. Stir in about ¼ cup of yogurt and blend completely. Continue by stirring in the remainder of the yogurt.

3. Add the pepper, salt, and cucumber to the yogurt blend then stir until consistently distributed.

4. Chill until time to serve. Delicious with pita bread, pita chips, or grilled flatbread. Also tasty with Indian food since it is cool and balances the spices.

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