Cucumber Salad with Strawberry

I would have never imagined that strawberries mixed with cucumbers would taste as delicious as it does. I'm a salad lover. I eat at least two salads a day, and although I'm always game to try to new cooking recipes, I have to admit that I was a bit reluctant to make a strawberry and cucumber salad. That combination just didn't sound right, but I made the salad anyway, and I was glad that I did. Of course, I added a few of my own ingredients to the original recipe, just to make it a bit sweeter!

This delicious salad won't take more than thirty or forty minutes to prepare, and I've listed enough ingredients to serve four hungry people. Peel two giant cucumbers and then slice them right down the middle. You'll have four halves at this point (obviously). The next step is to scoop out all of the seeds with a spoon. This will leave you with four canoe-shaped halves. Next, slice each cucumber half into thin slices and pile them into a medium sized bowl.

Hopefully you have strawberry farms near you, because this salad tastes best when you use fresh and bruise-free strawberries. You'll need 10 ounces of them. Trim and wash them, and then slice them into small slices and toss them into the bowl with the cucumbers. Don't cheat and start eating any before the salad is done. You'll want the full compliment of flavors when you finally take a bite into this shockingly tasty combination.

In another bowl, add the following ingredients: two tablespoons of honey, two tablespoons of balsamic vinegar, and a single heaping tablespoon of olive oil. Now mix the dressing together for several minutes, and then pour it over your bowl of strawberries and cucumbers. Let that sit for a bit, and let the dressing soak into the strawberries and cucumbers.

The next step is to heat up some almond slivers in a pan. Do not add oil! Put the pan on medium heat and stir the almonds to keep them from burning. You'll want to brown them as evenly as possible. Remove the pan from the heat but keep the almonds in the pan while you prepare the salad bowls.

Lay out four salad bowls, and then pour equal amounts of the cucumber/strawberry salad into each bowl. Next, top each salad off with an equal portion of warm almonds. If you like mint leaves, you can tear them into small pieces and sprinkle onto the top of each salad.

And the final step to this tasty salad is to eat it! Depending on your tastes, you may want to salt and pepper slightly. This is a great tasting salad that combines two unlikely ingredients which will leave quite an impression on your guests. Enjoy!

2 large cucumbers

1/2 cup slivered almonds

1/4 cup fresh mint

10 ounces of fresh strawberries

1 tablespoon of olive oil 

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoons of honey