Zippy Cucumber and Red Pepper Salad

I’m on a mission. I want to eat more vegetables.

I’m continuing my veggie journey today with this light, refreshing, zippy cucumber dish. I headed off to the far reaches of North Africa today with this Algerian inspired vegetable dish. Ya, I had to look at a map to find Algeria. It’s cool if you didn’t know either. Algerian cuisine is a fusion of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern foods. With the state of current events in that region I don’t plan on visiting anytime soon. I’ll take their flavors and enjoy them in the safety of my own home. The recipe calls for cayenne pepper which might lead you to believe that it is spicy, however, I didn’t find the dish to be spicy at all. The cayenne was balanced by the vinegar and resulted in a fresh, flavorful dressing with only the most mild of heat. I served it up with some Moroccan spiced chicken thighs (dangit, I love chicken thighs!) which seemed very appropriate seeing has how Morocco is a neighbor to Algeria. Ya, bet you didn’t expect to visit a cooking blog and learn geography! Honestly, you’d probably never even realize this dish came inspired from such a distant land. The flavors all seem familiar and provide such refreshing summer flavors. Clean, bright, and zippy!

Ingredients

1 large cucumber

1 red bell pepper

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon white vinegar

1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro

Instructions

1. Cut the cucumber in half lengthwise. Cut each length lengthwise once again so you have 4 long strips. Cut each strip every 1/4 inch to form bite-sized pieces.

2. Stand your red bell pepper upright, holding it by the stem. Place your knife at the top and slice down so that the bell pepper sides come off into 4 or 5 pieces. Discard the core and seeds. Cut each pepper slice into strips and then cut the strips into thirds so that you end up with bite-sized pieces. 

3. Place the cucumbers and red bell pepper into a bowl. Season with salt and cayenne pepper then stir in the olive oil, vinegar, and cilantro. Stir thoroughly and put it in the fridge until ready to eat. Stir again before serving. 

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