In a pinch for a delicious, low-calorie and light snack? Look no further than the very simple Sichuan-Style Smashed Cucumber Salad recipe from our amazing vegan-friendly, Sichuan-focused friends at Serious Eats. In making this recipe, I found an inventive way to really smash the heck out of cucumbers and realize that even if I didn't have a critical ingredient on-hand, it could be a fantastic appetizer or snack.
First, to my "inventive" method for smashing cucumbers – it was actually my husband's great idea. As I was pondering which kitchen tool to use to smash the cucumbers, he recommended using our round cast iron griddle. We covered the cucumber with foil, and started smashing away with the heavy weight griddle. We achieved a smashed cucumber that really couldn't be achieved with anything else in our kitchen, and with a great amount of control to prevent potential injuries (we were really smashing the heck out of that cucumber!).
After smashing the cucumber, you cut it into bite-size pieces, season with salt, and let drain in a colander set over a bowl for 10 minutes.
Then add the drained cucumbers to a mixture of vinegar (I used the rice wine variety, but may use Chinkiang black vinegar next time), sesame oil, and garlic. Or in my case, omit the garlic because I didn't have it on hand (who doesn't have garlic on-hand? an outlier in my kitchen). Enjoy immediately!
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