Grandma's Creamy Cucumber Salad (dairy free)

It's still very warm outside... Well, it is literally summer until the 21st! So, I plan on making a side dish my family really loves. Creamy cukes it is!  This is definitely a THROW-back dish, that most of us would remember. Certainly peeps from my neck of the woods.

My sweet grandma, made this dish often in the summer, due to her may cucumber plants. My grandma and grandpa didn't have a big garden, but they really utilized their small plot of land, in the city of Milwaukee on 65th street. They planted cukes along their back fence, that enclosed their yard from the alley. The cukes climbed up the fence, and they would grow on both sides of the fence! They also planted tomatoes and peppers on the side of the garage, and along the back of their little home.

They used the area very well! I speak for myself and siblings when I say, going to grandma and grandpa's in the summer, and picking cukes and tomatoes right off of the vine, was one of our favorite memories.... My grandma with her sun hat, and very tan, farmer tanned arms from working outdoors.

So, this is my take on my grandma's creamy cukes. I know she used sour cream, and I know she used vinegar, and dill. I make mine dairy free, and sub with mayo- my favorite condiment! I use Bragg's raw apple cider vinegar, instead of white, because it is so darned good, and good for you! The cucumbers I use in the summer now, are from the farmer's market... good, but not like grandma's;)

Grandma's Creamy Cucumber Salad

2 large cucumbers, ( peels on if from your farmer or garden) very thinly sliced
1 medium onion,  cut in half, very thinly sliced
1/4 C Bragg's raw apple cider vinegar
1/4 C vegenaise, or good quality mayo
1 Tbl raw agave nectar, raw honey, or palm sugar
2 garlic cloves
1 teaspoon dill
1/4 tsp sea salt

I make the dressing in a blender, blending last 5 ingredients. I then
use my mandolin, to make light work of slicing the cukes and onion paper thin! Toss veg into dressing! Cover, and chill for at least 1 hour, but longer is better.

Pour dressing into the bowl over veggies!

Cool & creamy goodness!

*Today I used Penzeys Sunny Paris  blend. It was a gift from my friend Meg! It is a blend of purple shallot, chives, green peppercorn, French basil, French tarragon, chervil, bay leaf, and dill weed. It was perfect for this salad!
*Cucumbers are a very healthy vegetable! It is the most alkaline of all vegetables! A body that is of alkaline pH, cannot become ill. Cool as a cucumber? That's because they quell inflammation in the body!

So, thank you grandma for this inspiration! I don't ever remember her using a cook book... So, I guess that's where I get wingin' it from. However, I wish she wrote some of her recipes down. I would've cherished them.  Maybe I should... in my own handwriting, instead of just on the blog.  Hmmmmmmmmmm.

Yours in health,
Natalie