Cucumber, Red Onion, Chilli, Mint and Roasted Peanut Salsa
I've made a lot of this recipe recently; it's gorgeous and goes with many dishes. This week, as it's paired with two new recipes on the blog, I'm giving it its own recipe page. It works amazingly with rice dishes. It's a superb combo of salty, sour, sweet, spicy, fresh, crunchy and nutty - aka packed with flavours and textures. It will keep covered in the fridge for 2-3 days; just don't add the peanuts until you want to serve it, so if you make a larger batch, keep the peanuts separate until you dish it up.
SERVES 6
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YOU WILL NEED
1/2 cup unsalted peanuts
4 Lebanese cucumbers
1 small red onion, peeled
1 long red chilli, deseeded, finely sliced widthways
1 long green chilli, deseeded, finely sliced widthways
4 tbsp rice wine vinegar
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp caster sugar
1 tsp fine salt
Freshly ground black pepper
12 large mint leaves, very finely sliced
Extra mint leaves to garnish
Preheat your oven to 180˚C.
Scatter peanuts on a baking tray and roast in the oven for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown and toasted. Remove, allow to cool, then finely chop. Set aside.
Cut the top and bottom of each cucumber and discard.
Cut each cucumber in half lengthways, then using a small spoon, I use the 1/2 teaspoon measure from my bunch of spoon measures (these are the SORT OF ones I use), scrape all the seeds away from the centre and discard. Cut each deseeded half length into 1cm slices widthways. I use a mandolin to do this to give uniformity, and it's a much quicker way to get them all chopped. Add cucumber slices to a large mixing bowl.
Slice the red onion very finely widthways into rings (again, use a mandolin if you have one), cut the rings in half and add the onion to the sliced cucumbers. Add sliced red and green chilli and finely sliced mint. Using clean hands, combine everything.
Add your two vinegars, sugar, and salt. Mix everything thoroughly, and season with freshly ground black pepper to taste.
Add the mixture to the serving bowl, cover, and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Remove from the fridge 20 minutes before serving.
TO SERVE, SCATTER ROASTED CHOPPED PEANUTS ON TOP, ALONG WITH BABY MINT LEAVES.