Radish and Cucumber Salad

It's been a non-stop summer here.  A continuous go, go, go.  Truth be told, while I'm having a wonderful time and enjoying all the new friends and adventures, I'm exhausted.

I think it's time to slow down and enjoy my days.  Maybe I'll read a book, or putz around in my garden or watch a movie with my kids. 

Or perhaps combine a few of my favorite things and get my boys to help me out in the garden.  They love to sneak through the snaking vines of the watermelon plant and search for the newest baby melons.  Finding a cucumber hanging from the trellis is a magical treasure for them.  And it's one of my favorite things to watch- the joy they get from watching mother nature get her groove on in our backyard garden.

My kiddos have a habit of getting so excited about the growing veggies and fruit that they forget to wait until something is ripe to pick it.  Several times this spring and summer, I've come out of the shower to find my little one with a bouquet of tiny carrots or a handful or unripe strawberries that he has just harvested all by himself.  It's hard to get angry when he has the look of someone who has just brought you a magnificent treasure and is intensely proud of himself.  So I laugh and thank him for his gift, then remind him how we can tell when things in the garden are ready to pick and remind him to wait for Mommy next time.

One day, when the little one had gotten way too excited about picking the growing radishes, this salad was born.  My oldest loves radishes (there are very few things he won't eat) and cucumbers.  So I sliced them up,  made a quick dressing and tossed them all together.  The salad was quickly gobbled up- it's amazing how excited kids will get to eat something that they watched grow from a seed in their very own yard. 

I don't have any radishes left in the garden now, but we can surely hunt down some cherry tomatoes or gigantic cucumbers.  Sounds like a great way to spend a lazy day with my boys...

Radish and Cucumber Salad
Serves 4 as a side dish.
For a printable version, click here.

1 bunch radishes ( I used about 6 large french breakfast radishes)
2 persian cucumbers or 1 medium english (seedless) cucumber
1/2 cup plain greek yogurt
2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp mustard seeds (if you can find black mustard seeds use them, I only had brown mustard seeds and they worked just fine)
pinch of kosher salt

Thinly slice both the radishes and the cucumbers.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the yogurt, olive oil, and coriander and mustard seeds.  Add salt to taste.  Toss in the cucumbers and radishes and stir to coat with the dressing.  Serve immediately.