Yesterday while I was mixing various things into the bison to make burgers, my son sliced the cucumbers for the salad. This is a “salad” for Eastern Europeans — if you’re from somewhere like Italy where a salad has to have lettuce in it, then this is a side dish. You could also use less (or no) sour cream or use these as a topping on burgers.
Cucumber Salad
This recipe is slightly modified from The Hungarian Cookbook (1955) that I got from my Grandma.
1 large cucumber
1/2 t sea salt
1 ½ T cider or red wine vinegar
¼ t paprika
1 small crushed clove garlic
¼ C sour cream
Slice the cucumber thinly, sprinkle with salt, and stir. Set aside for up to an hour to weep – I usually can only wait 20-30 minutes which works since I slice the cucumber very thin. Meanwhile, whisk the vinegar, paprika, and garlic. Stir in the sour cream until combined. When the time is up on the cucumbers, squeeze a few at a time discarding the liquid and put the cucumbers into the vinegar mixture – they’ll look paper thin. Shake a little black pepper on if you want. Mix well, put into your serving bowl, and sprinkle the top with more paprika.
