Author: story of a kitchen (adapted from food and wine magazine)
Prep time:
Total time:
Serves: 4
Ingredients
⅓ cup Japanese or Chinese sesame paste or tahini
3 tablespoons white miso
3 tablespoons mirin
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
⅓ cup pine nuts
24 ounces Japanese, Persian or kirby cucumbers, halved lengthwise and sliced crosswise ¾ inch thick
Kosher salt
2 tablespoons fresh lemon or lime juice
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
Instructions
In a food processor, blend the sesame paste, miso, mirin, vinegar and sesame oil until smooth. Transfer the miso dressing to a jar and refrigerate until chilled, at least 15 minutes.
Dry toast the pine nuts over moderate heat, shaking the pan, until the nuts are golden, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a plate and let cool.
In a medium bowl, sprinkle the cucumbers with salt and refrigerate for 10 minutes. Rinse well, pat dry and return to bowl.*
Add the lemon juice, olive oil and ½ cup of the miso dressing to the cucumbers (reserve the rest for another use - I use it sparingly as a dip the next day for more cucumbers not designated for the salad) and toss well using your clean hands. Transfer to a new dish. Garnish with the pine nuts and sesame seeds and serve.
This salad is best when chilled and eaten the day of assembly. The miso dressing can be refrigerated for up to 1 week.
serving = 1 cup vegetables + 1 fat (pine nuts and olive oil) = about 5g carbohydrates
Notes
* I originally found this step of salting the cucumbers first unnecessary, then found it helped keep the cucumbers crisp for longer. If you decide to salt, then rinse well before mixing the cukes with the dressing.
The best thing about this recipe is that you can gorge on it, even with diabetes. I experimented a little. I actually ate half of this at one sitting, and my blood sugar was under 140 immediately post-prandial, along with my starch and protein with my meal (and under 120 an hour later). Obviously, be aware that the mirin does have a little sugar in it, so don't eat all of the dressing at once.
Recipe by story of a kitchen at https://www.storyofakitchen.com/salad-recipes/cucumber-salad-with-sesame-miso-dressing-recipe/