Lemony-Dill Cucumber Radish Salad

Back so soon? Yes! I usually only blog two or three times a week, and the posts rarely come one right after another on the same day. But this weekend was different... You see, I sprained my ankle last Thursday during our ultimate frisbee game, so I've been ordered to rest. Sigh. :( I do not rest well. It's really not my thing. After about 10 minutes of sitting on the couch, I feel the need to get up and do something. This weekend, however, I did try to force myself to sit as much as possible so that my ankle can heal. I've been propping it up on pillows, icing it with frozen broccoli, and taking tons of ibuprofen. Not being allowed to run for two weeks is pretty much going to be torture. It puts a kink in my marathon training, but I will do my darndest to make the most of it and get back on track once my ankle is ready. In the meantime, I have more time to bake, cook, and blog (hence, the two posts in a day). And I also have more time to do ab workouts, which historically have not been my favorite at all! But since I am heading to Hawaii in about a month and a half, perhaps this is a blessing in disguise. I'm going to be all set for the beach after these next two weeks. ;-)

Boy, did I get off track there. Sorry! In case you couldn't tell, the ankle injury is really all I can think about these days. That and baking, of course. Despite the great deal of time I spent on the couch this weekend, I did spend some time in the kitchen too. I baked muffins and cookies (they will be upcoming posts!), and I made this delicious, refreshing lemony-dill cucumber radish salad. It's the perfect, light, flavorful summertime salad.

The recipe I "followed" was in my most recent issue of Cooking Light magazine. I have recently challenged myself to make at least one recipe from each new magazine I receive (I get several!). I love reading my magazines, but I rarely actually make recipes from them so I'm going to try to improve on that front. This recipe is my first success! Resting on the couch allowed me to read my Cooking Light as soon as it arrived yesterday, and this delightful salad caught my eye right away. The other inspiration for this recipe came from this past week's CSA goodies in which we received lots of fresh dill and parsley! I don't think I've mentioned it on the blog yet, but my boyfriend and I are sharing a CSA share with our good friends Jenn and Jason. The dill and parsley were with week 2's veggies that we received on Friday. So the herbs were nice and fresh, and I am glad I found this recipe so that I could use them!

The actual recipe that's in the Cooking Light magazine can be found at this link. However, I changed it oh so slightly, so my version is written below for you.

-2 heaping cups of thinly sliced cucumber (this was one 8 or 9-inch cucumber for me)

-1 heaping cup thinly sliced radishes (I used almost an entire 6 oz. bag)

-the curls of 2 large carrots (should equal approx. 1/2 cup)

-1 Tbsp. chopped, fresh parsley

-2 Tbsp. chopped, fresh dill

-1 and 1/2 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice

-2 tsp. extra virgin olive oil

-1 tsp. white wine vinegar

-pinch of salt

-pinch of pepper

Mix together the first five ingredients in a large bowl. Next, in a small bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil, vinegar, s & p. Pour this over the cucumber mixture, and toss to coat.

That's all, folks! It couldn't be easier. Well, actually, it could I suppose. A mandoline would be helpful to thinly slice the cucumbers and radishes, but since I don't have one, I sliced them by hand. No big deal really, but if you have a mandoline, I suggest you use it! All in all, this recipe is quite simple. It is also quite delicious! The fresh lemon pairs so nicely with the fresh dill and parsley. And I love that the radishes add a nice crunchy texture too. And the colors are beautiful!

This is the perfect veggie summertime salad; I'm convinced. ;-)