Cucumber, dates and pistachio

"The combination of how easy this salad is to make and how tasty it is, drives us to put it on the table. It's just how we like it when it's hot. An easy and yummy salad that no one's gonna say no to!"

Cucumber, dates and pistachio Credit: Shuki Rosenboim & Louisa Allan

• serves

  4

• prep

  10 minutes

• cook

  10 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 70 g (½ cup) shelled pistachios
• 3 Lebanese cucumbers
• 6 Medjool dates, pitted, each date sliced into 6 strips
• ½ red onion, diced
• handful of chives, chopped
• finely grated zest of ½ lemon, plus a little juice
• sea salt flakes
• extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan-forced). Spread the pistachios over a baking tray and bake for 8–10 minutes, until fragrant. Take care not to overcook. Cool and chop the pistachios.
2. Cut the cucumbers in half lengthways and scrape out the seeds with a teaspoon. Cut into 5 mm (¼ in) thick half moons. Combine the cucumber, date, onion, chives, lemon zest and pistachios in a bowl. Dress with a little squeeze of lemon juice, a pinch of salt and a drizzle of olive oil, and serve.

 

Images and recipes from Very Good Salads by Shuki Rosenboim & Louisa Allan, published by Smith Street Books, distributed by Thames & Hudson Australia (RRP $39.99).

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.