Thai Cucumber Salad

I love chicken satay, but I especially love the cucumber salad that typically comes alongside chicken satay!  It's got that perfect combination of sweetness and fresh crunch to cut through the rich peanut sauce on the chicken.  It turns out this salad is really easy to make at home, and is a great side dish for any rich meat dish. I served it alongside a fantastic meatball curry, which I'll post about soon.  The salad contributed lots of great flavors to the meal - fresh herbs, crunchy onions and cucumbers, sugar, and a bit of spice.  I'll definitely be making this one again!

On another note, I've finally compiled a list of all the recipes on this site so that you can find them easily.  There's a link on the right sidebar, or you can find the list here.  I hope this is useful, and please let me know if you find any broken or missing links.

Thai Cucumber Salad (adapted from use real butter, original recipe here)
Serves 5-6

1/4 cup + 2 T white sugar
1/4 cup seasoned rice wine vinegar
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup water
A few generous pinches of red pepper flakes
3 large-ish cucumbers, peeled, seeds scraped out, and thinly sliced
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup fresh mint, roughly chopped
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, roughly choppd

1. Combined the sugar, vinegar, salt, water, and red pepper flakes in a saucepan over high heat.  Stir until the sugar is dissolved and bring to a boil.  Simmer about 1 minute, then remove from the heat and allow to cool.
2. Toss together the cucumbers and onions.  Pour the dressing over and then toss in along with the mint and cilantro.  Chill for a half hour or more to allow the flavors to combine, and then serve.

I'm sending this recipe off to the These Chicks Cooked Link Party!