Cucumber, Seaweed and Carrot Salad is a great way to serve cucumber and carrots – two great kitchen staples but sometimes you forget how good they can be and how versatile they can be. Seaweed is much underused – it tastes great and is rich in B vitamins and minerals – particularly riboflavin, folate, calcium, magnesium, manganese. This gluten-free, vegan salad is really substantial and so tasty with the tang of tamari with lime and sesame.

Cucumber, Seaweed and Carrot Salad is fairly easy, with time needed to marinate the cucumber to remove water.

Perfect for lunch, light dinner dish etc. Serve with Vietnamese Summer Rolls.

Allergy Information – Cucumber, Seaweed and Carrot Salad

Cucumber, Seaweed and Carrot Salad is gluten-free and vegan as well as… celery free, coconut free, garlic free, lupin free, mustard free, nightshade free*, onion free, peanut free, tree nut free.

*For nightshade free, leave out the chilli/ gochugaru.

Top Tips – Cucumber, Seaweed and Carrot Salad

Wakame is possibly the most popular of the edible seaweeds, with a slightly sweet flavour. Wakame is often found in miso soups. Wakame is available from many supermarkets and online.

I always remove the centre of the cucumber which is where the seeds are. It is mostly water and has a tendency to make everything watery and not great. It is also important to steep the cucumber in the fridge with the salt to remove further water from the cucumber. Otherwise you will end up with a very watery (but delicious) salad!

If you don’t like spice you can reduce the amount of chilli or leave out the chilli.

I use a mandolin to get long, thin, strands. If you don’t have a mandolin grating works well too.

Recipe – Cucumber, Seaweed and Carrot Salad

Difficulty easy-medium
Serves 4-6
Preparation time 40 minutes
Cooking time 0 minutes

Ingredients – Cucumber, Seaweed and Carrot Salad – Salad

10 grams dried wakame
1 large cucumber
1 large carrot
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
0.5 teaspoon sea salt

Ingredients – Cucumber, Seaweed and Carrot Salad – Dressing

1 tablespoon tamari
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
A pinch of red pepper flakes or gochugaru (leave out for nightshade free)

Method – Cucumber, Seaweed and Carrot Salad

1. Soak the wakame in luke-warm water to hydrate (around 15 minutes).
2. Slice the cucumber lengthways and using a teaspoon remove the seeds and watery centre of the cucumber. Using a mandolin or grater cut the cucumber into long, thin strands and place in a bowl with the rice vinegar, sugar and 0.5 teaspoon sea salt. Place in the fried for 30 minutes
3. Peel the carrot and use a mandolin or grater to create long, thin strands and place in a serving bowl
4. Drain the wakame and squeeze to remove water. Finely shred the wakame on a large chopping board with a large knife and add to the carrots in the serving bowl
4. Remove the cucumber from the fridge, drain and squeeze out all the water from the cucumber and add to the serving bowl with the sesame seeds and mix well
5. Add all the dressing ingredients to a jar with a well-fitting lid and shake well. Drizzle the dressing over the salad and mix well
5. Serve.