Simple, healthy, and totally addictive. What more could you ask of a salad?
The dressing in this salad is the star! Lime, ginger and coconut milk are drizzled over sweet Lola Rosa lettuce and crunchy cucumber slices. The combination turns out a salad that’s incredibly refreshing and brimming with tropical flavors… so cooling, you’ll crave it all summer long.
Food & wine pairing: Argentina, Torrontés with Lola Rosa and cucumber salad
A Torrontés Riojano (most often referred to as simply Torrontés) from Argentina is ideal with this salad. These fresh, highly aromatic wines are bursting with floral and tropical notes that are perfect with the dressing. Additionally, the wines’ light body and crispness go hand in hand with the equally light salad. Choose a wine from the cooler vineyards of Cafayate in the province of Salta or from Chilecito in La Rioja. These regions offer the best examples of this alluring white wine.
Lola Rosa and cucumber salad with ginger-lime-coconut dressing
serves 4
active time: 20 min
For the dressing
- 1/4 teaspoon finely grated lime zest
- 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
- 1 teaspoon finely grated fresh ginger root (use a microplane grater)
- 1 teaspoon coconut palm sugar or honey
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- pinch ground cayenne
- 2 tablespoons roasted almond or roasted hazelnut oil
- 3 tablespoons unsweetened coconut milk
For the salad
- 1 small seedless cucumber (about 8″ long)
- 1 scallion
- 6 oz (170 g) Lola Rosa, red oakleaf or Boston lettuce leaves
- 2 tablespoons roasted, salted cashews – coarsely crushed in a mortar
- Step 1: To make the dressing – Place all the ingredients in a small bowl and whisk until well blended. Set aside.
- Step 2: Peel the cucumber with a vegetable hand-peeler in strips, leaving some of the skin on. Then, using a mandoline, slice crosswise in 1/8″ slices. Place in a bowl and set aside. Trim both ends of the scallion and cut crosswise on the diagonal in 1/8″ slices. Place in a small bowl and set aside. Place the lettuce leaves in a large bowl and drizzle with half the dressing. Toss well with your hands until the leaves are well coated. Arrange half the lettuce leaves on a large platter (or on 4 plates if serving individual portions) and top with half the cucumber slices. Drizzle the cucumber slices with a little of the dressing and repeat, building the salad in another layer and using the balance of the lettuce leaves, cucumber slices and dressing. Garnish with the scallion slices, sprinkle with the crushed cashews and serve immediately.
What a flavorful salad! love the hints of ginger, lime and coconut and the salted cashew is such a beautiful finish. Nuts are a must for a good salad and you’ve got a delicious one here. Thanks!
A simple and beautiful salad, Viviane. And indeed the star is the tropical dressing.