Something about the rich creaminess of the cashew sour cream with the cooling and crunchy cucumbers makes this dish especially appealing. Adding even more to this salad is dill. Other herbs would be delicious as well. Feel free to swap parsley, cilantro or basil in place of dill or a variety of fresh herbs from your garden!
1cupcashews (raw, soaked for at least 4 hours and drained. Alternatively, add boiling hot water to raw cashews and let soak for 30 minutes)
1tbsplemon juice (freshly squeezed)
2tbsporganic apple cider vinegar
1tbspwhite vinegar (+1 Tbsp as desired)
1tspground cumin
½tspsalt (optional)
¾cupwater (+¼ cup as desired)
Cucumber Salad
4cupscucumber (optional peeled and thinly sliced, about 3 cucumbers. See Chef’s Notes)
½cupred onion (chopped)
2tbspdill (+1 Tbsp as desired, chopped)
¼tsppepper (optional)
Directions
1
Make the sour cream: Add the soaked and drained cashews, lemon, apple cider vinegar, 1 tablespoon of white vinegar, cumin, salt if using, and ¾ cup of water to a food processor or blender.
2
Blend until smooth. Taste for additional white vinegar. Add another tablespoon if desired. Depending on your preferred consistency, you might want to add an additional ¼ cup of water. Set aside.
3
Combine the salad ingredients into one medium bowl: sliced cucumber, sliced onion, dill, and pepper (if using).
4
Stir well.
5
Pour the sour cream mixture on top of the cucumber mixture and stir well.
6
Chill for two hours before serving (it gets more flavorful with time!). Serve with an additional dash of dill or smoked paprika, if desired.
Chef's Notes
Substitutions Instead of dill, use mint, parsley or cilantro.
In place of red onion use shallots or yellow onion.
Note about the cucumbers Once you mix the cucumbers with the sour cream dressing they will lose their water content into the sour cream dressing, causing the dressing to be more watery. You can either add less water to the dressing initially or you can drain the cucumbers ahead of time by slicing them, sprinkling salt on top of them evenly, letting them sit for 20 minutes, and squeezing the water out with clean hands. Then you can add them as instructed in step 3.
Prep ahead Make the sour cream ahead of time and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Storage Store the assembled salad in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Ingredients
Cashew Sour Cream
1cupcashews (raw, soaked for at least 4 hours and drained. Alternatively, add boiling hot water to raw cashews and let soak for 30 minutes)
1tbsplemon juice (freshly squeezed)
2tbsporganic apple cider vinegar
1tbspwhite vinegar (+1 Tbsp as desired)
1tspground cumin
½tspsalt (optional)
¾cupwater (+¼ cup as desired)
Cucumber Salad
4cupscucumber (optional peeled and thinly sliced, about 3 cucumbers. See Chef’s Notes)
½cupred onion (chopped)
2tbspdill (+1 Tbsp as desired, chopped)
¼tsppepper (optional)
Directions
1
Make the sour cream: Add the soaked and drained cashews, lemon, apple cider vinegar, 1 tablespoon of white vinegar, cumin, salt if using, and ¾ cup of water to a food processor or blender.
2
Blend until smooth. Taste for additional white vinegar. Add another tablespoon if desired. Depending on your preferred consistency, you might want to add an additional ¼ cup of water. Set aside.
3
Combine the salad ingredients into one medium bowl: sliced cucumber, sliced onion, dill, and pepper (if using).
4
Stir well.
5
Pour the sour cream mixture on top of the cucumber mixture and stir well.
6
Chill for two hours before serving (it gets more flavorful with time!). Serve with an additional dash of dill or smoked paprika, if desired.
