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Garden fresh, crunchy cucumbers and a light, spicy/sweet dressing pair up for the perfect summer salad that’s quick to throw together, and low in carbs and calories.

How This Fits in a Healthy Diet

No sugar, sweetened with stevia
Cucumbers contain vitamin K, potassium, and vitamin C
Sesame oil has a balanced ratio of omega-3, omega-6, and omega-9 fatty acids
Garlic fights infection, lowers blood sugar, lowers blood pressure
1 cup of this salad is only 87 calories, and contains only 6 grams of carbs (see the nutrition info near the bottom of the recipe card below)

Ingredients

Sesame oil
Rice vinegar or white vinegar: I love the mild flavor of rice vinegar, but white vinegar will also work well in this recipe.
Soy sauce: if you are gluten free, double check that the soy sauce doesn’t contain wheat.
Fresh minced garlic: the garlic in this salad is raw, so make sure it’s very finely minced. Garlic powder just won’t cut it for this recipe.
Liquid stevia: I prefer liquid stevia in this recipe, but if you want to try a different zero calorie sweetener or sugar, it will probably turn out just fine.
Sesame seeds: I use mine raw, but you could go the extra mile and toast yours in a dry saucepan on medium heat until they are golden brown. I’m always in a hurry to throw this salad together when I make it, so I rarely do that but we all love this salad just the same!
chili powder, salt: use regular dry chili powder and salt

Gochujang sauce: This is a Korean sauce made from rice, soybeans, and chili paste. I bought mine from an Asian market, but if you can’t find it, Sriracha sauce would make a good sub.

Cucumbers: use English or Asian cucumbers for this recipe. They are the ones that tend to have a small diameter, with a very thin skin. I like these cucumbers because they are very mild flavored and crunchy. I grow them in my garden, but you can find them at most grocery stores. This salad is a delicious way to use up cucumbers when you have lots of them coming out of your garden at once!

Let's Make This Salad:

Step 1. Wash and slice cucumbers.

Step 2. Combine sesame oil, soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, chili powder, Gochujang sauce, and stevia in a bowl. Whisk all together until smooth.

Step 3. Add the cucumbers to the dressing in the bowl and toss well until they are thoroughly coated.

Step 4. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve.

I've got another fresh cucumber salad (Cucumber Feta Salad) in the cookbook Cooking With Trader Joe's Easy Lunch Boxes. You can also find my recipes for Smoky Chipotle Barbecue Beef, Chicken BLT with Pesto Cream cheese, and a few others.

Cooking With Trader Joe's Easy Lunch Boxes

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