Cucumber Salad with Coriander Vinaigrette

Preamble

This was absolutely delicious, Probably my favorite of the group. The texture was fun and crunchy, the colors were beautiful, and the dressing had bright and fruity coriander flavor.

Ingredients

Salad

• 2 cucumbers, preferably long English seedless type, finely julienned (NO SEEDS!)
• 1/2 carrot, finely julienned
• 1/2 red onion, finely julienned
• 1 red bell pepper, finely julienned
• 1 green onion, finely sliced along axis
• 1 avocado, sliced

Dressing

• 1 oz Rice Wine Vinegar
• 4 oz Peanut Oil
• 1 Tbl ground Coriander
• 1/2 Tbl sugar
• 1 tsp poppy seeds
• pinch crushed red pepper
• juice + zest of 1 lime
• 1 tsp salt and pepper

Method

Finely julienne the cucumber and carrot on a mandoline, stopping before seeds appear. If you don't have one, you're shit out of luck. I guess you could do it by hand but that would suck. Anyway, do the red onion and red pepper by hand. Place veggies in a large bowl.

Prepare the dressing in a small food processor or blender, WITHOUT poppy seeds. The blender will shred the up and turn everything to shit. Taste and adjust the salt/sugar/acid/oil accordingly. Add poppy seeds when finished.

Toss salad and wait a while for it to marinate. Let the veggies get a little limp so they can be manipulated. They will release a ton of juice, this is normal. When they become pliable, wrap some around your finger or twist it up or whatever to get a cool spiral type presentation. To make the onion blossom, thinly slice the end of a green onion and place in cold water until it curls up. Stick it in the salad after you cut off the root. Garnish with avocado slices.