Cucumber Salad- a perfect light sidedish or middle or the night snack!!!!

I love cucumber and pickles.  Plus, they are a negative calorie food.....  So cucumbers are always in my refrigerator, on my lads and available for munching. However sometimes I want more and I do not mean pickles on burgers or cucumbers on a head of lettuce. And when I do, I make this recipe which satisfy that pickle/ cucumber craving without just being pickles or cucumbers.  It also satisfies my sour, salty, savory and crunchy craving too!!!

Now before you start making faces or assuming this is like your grandma's/aunt's/cousin's or whoever's cucumber salad.  You are wrong this is not southern style at all.  Hey-there are no onions in this dish.  Plus, the use of rice wine vinegar makes the taste different then what you find at your favorite comfort food eatery (Hello Lady and Sons).

One of the reason, I like this dish some much is because it is great for snacking on.  But also pairs well at a picnic, with burgers, fish, or on it's own. It is a great and simple pot-luck dish to bring to events like BBQs or work functions.

What you need

2 LONG cucumbers

5 small tomatoes (I used capri's)

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup mirin- rice wine vinegar

2 splenda packets

4 cloves of garlic

1 tbsp of Italian Seasoning

1 large plastic container with lid

1 cutting board

1 knife

What I did

1. Mix the apple cider vinegar, mirin, splenda, and  Italian seasoning in the plastic container.
2. Peel and smash the cloves of garlic cloves.  Then add to the vinegar mixture in the container
3. Peel the cucumbers.  Then slice the cucumbers. Thickness matters.  The thinner you slice the cucumbers the quicker they will brine and become pickle like.  So if you want more pickle like cucumbers, slice thinner.  If you would like less acidic and more crunchy cucumbers, slice thicker.  Then add to the vinegar mixture in the container.
4. Quarter the tomatoes.  Then add to the vinegar mixture in the container
5. Place lid on top of container and refrigerate for at least an hour before serving/snacking.

TIPS

1. The longer this salad  sits the more pickle-like the salad will become.
2. Don't drink the ALL juice....I did and my stomach hated me for quite some time
3. Do mix this with Feta Cheese and lettuce to create a funky take on a Greek Salad.
4. Lastly, hide this in the back of the fridge......... (trust me on this)