Cucumber and Radish Salad with Lemon Dressing

I'm so glad the most recent issue of Cooking Light arrived before the postal strike began! It has some great recipes in it.

After all the heavy food (read: fast and deep fried) I ate on the Ottawa-Montreal trip, I've been in serious need of lightening things up. I'm paying off the sins I indulged in at Frites Alors!

It's T-6 weeks until Hawaii, and I'd love love LOVE to drop those 10 pounds that I've struggling with the past 2 months. Plus, one of my students (who we're pretty sure has Aspergers) announced very loudly that I have a "fat ass".

And when even the Aspergers kid notices, you know you've got to take action.

So here I am. Taking some action. Even though I'm not a huge fan of either cucumbers OR radishes, something about this salad spoke to me.

I'm pretty sure it was saying: I'm what your body needs right now. Crunchy. Cold. Vibrant.

I really enjoyed this salad - some fresh dill in place of the parsley would be totally delicious and highly recommended. Plus, although I'm unabashedly trying to lose weight, this salad doesn't feel like deprivation. It feels like the antidote to a scorching summer day.

If you have a mandolin, be sure to whip it out for the radishes and cucumbers. That will make your life SO much easier.

Cucumber and Radish Salad with Lemon Dressing

(from Cooking Light)

Ingredients

½ cup thinly sliced radishes
2 cups thinly sliced cucumber
¼ orange pepper, finely chopped
¼ cup parsley, finely chopped
1 tsp lemon zest
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
½ tbsp olive oil
¼ tsp kosher salt
¼ tsp black pepper

Directions

1. Gently toss radishes, cucumber, pepper and parsley together in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together remaining ingredients. Pour over cucumber mixture and gently toss again. Let flavours meld in fridge for an hour.

Also, it's a tasty accompaniment for grilled steak, or as a side on some kind of Middle Eastern plate (baba ghanoush, hummus, pita, tabbouleh).