This is what happens when your favorite part of tzatziki is the cucumbers, so you amplify them until they’re dramatic, crunchy, and fork-spearable. The proportions are upended, and the cucumbers, lifted out of the yogurt, are encouraged (you encourage your cucumbers, don’t you?) to be their coldest and most refreshing selves, erasing, I hope, any bad memories of the softer, swimming-in-dressing-style cucumber salad. These cucumbers are tossed in vinegar and oil with some thinly sliced red onion, and the sharp garlic-and-dill yogurt dressing stays underneath, with no chance to make anything soggy. If my balcony garden is overflowing with mint, I sometimes add to the yogurt an amount of mint equal to the dill.

　　This recipe was excerpted from 'Smitten Kitchen Keepers' by Deb Perelman. Buy the full book on Amazon.

　　

Ingredients

Serves 2 to 4

　　

For the yogurt

1½ cups plain, unsweetened Greek-style yogurt

　　1½ Tbsp. chopped fresh dill, plus more for garnish

　　1 large garlic clove, minced

　　¾ tsp. kosher salt

　　Freshly ground black pepper

　　

For the cucumbers

1 pound small Persian (or larger seedless) cucumbers, unpeeled

　　½ small red onion, very thinly sliced

　　1 Tbsp. plain or white-wine vinegar

　　2 Tbsp. olive oil

　　½ tsp. kosher salt

　　Freshly ground black pepper and/or red-pepper flakes, to taste

　　

Step 1

Mix the yogurt with the dill, garlic, salt, and many grinds of black pepper.

　　

Step 2

Cut the cucumbers in half lengthwise into 4 to 6 wedge- shaped slices (you’ll have fewer for smaller cucumbers, more for bigger ones). Cut the wedges into 1-to-1½-inch lengths on a diagonal, and add them to a big bowl with the onion, vinegar, olive oil, ½ teaspoon kosher salt, and pepper.

　　

Step 3

When you’re ready to eat the salad, spoon the yogurt sauce into a wide bowl or rimmed plate, and swirl it so it covers the bottom. Spoon the cucumbers and onions over the top. Finish with extra dill, and eat right away. If you’d prefer a mixed, creamy salad, remove the seeds from the cucumbers to avoid sogginess.

　　Reprinted with permission from Smitten Kitchen Keepers by Deb Perelman copyright © 2022. Published by Knopf, an imprint of Penguin Random House. Buy the full book from Amazon or Penguin Random House.