Cucumber Salad with Smashed Garlic & Ginger

Cucumber Salad with Smashed Garlic and Ginger (Large Real Food Boxes Only)

Adapted from Plenty, by Yotam Ottolenghi

Ingredients:

Dressing:
3 tbsp rice wine vinegar
2 tsp sugar
2 tbsp sunflower oil
2 tsp toasted sesame oil

Salad:
1 small red onion, very thinly sliced (optional)
1 1/2 inches fresh ginger, peeled and sliced
1 tsp sea salt (use less if your salt is very fine)
2 large garlic cloves, peeled
1-2 cucumbers, peeled
1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
3 tbsp chopped cilantro

Instructions:

To make the dressing, whisk together all the dressing ingredients in a medium mixing bowl.Add the sliced red onion, mix well and leave aside to marinate for about an hour.

Place the ginger and salt in a mortar and pound well with a pestle. Add the garlic and continue pounding until it is also well crushed and broken into pieces (stop pounding before it disintegrates into a paste). Use a spatula to scrape the contents of the mortar into the bowl with the onion and dressing. Stir together.

Cut the cucumbers lengthways in half, then cut each half on an angle into 1/4″ thick slices. Add the cucumber to the bowl, followed by the sesame seeds, and cilantro. Stir well and leave to sit for about 10 minutes.

Before serving, stir the salad again, tip out some of the liquid that has accumulated at the bottom of the bowl and adjust the seasoning.

Not Included in Large Real Food Boxes: Rice Wine Vinegar, Sugar, Sunflower Oil, Toasted Sesame Oil, Sea Salt, Sesame Seeds