Cucumber Salad With Red Onion and Dill

For this easy cucumber salad recipe, we look to the classic dill pickle for inspiration. But it’s not the cukes getting pickled here. Instead, you’ll marinate red onions in a mustardy vinegar brine sweetened with honey. Thirty minutes later that brine becomes the salad dressing when tossed with sliced cucumber ribbons and fresh dill.

Our preference for this salad is to use English cucumbers or smaller Persian cucumbers, which both have tender skins and minimal seeds. Avoid common cucumbers, which have waxy skin and watery flesh. To minimize any bitterness, slice off the ends of the cucumber, then use a vegetable peeler or mandoline to make even slices that run the length of the vegetable.

This minimal-effort summer salad, which requires just 30 minutes of mostly hands-off prep time, is a great side dish for cookouts and potlucks and also works well as part of an appetizer or brunch spread. The snappy texture of the fresh cucumbers and bright flavor of the dressing means this dish will play nicely with a wide variety of mains, including grilled chicken, roast pork, or fried falafel.