Sweet and Savory Cucumber Summer Fruit Salad (Paleo, Vegan)

A cooling cucumber noodle and summer fruit salad with a mix of sweet and savory flavors.

Summer fruit is an obvious choice for dessert, a juicy peach or a bowl of berries is always a simple and satisfying way to end a meal, but there’s also a savory side to this season’s fruit.  Berries, stone fruit and watermelon make an excellent addition to summer salads.

Now when you hear the words  “fruit” and “salad” together you might think I mean chopping up some ripe fruit and tossing it into a bowl, no what I’m talking about here is a sweet and savory dish filled with fresh herbs and a lively dressing that works both as an entrée or a light meal.

While there’s certainly nothing wrong with a traditional fruit salad it’s nice to shake things up and give it a savory twist every once in a while.

The charm lies in the combination of seemingly contradictory tastes that actually serves to heighten both the sweet and savory elements and bring a new complexity to the resulting dish.

Here I’ve paired cool and crunchy cucumber noodles with chunks of stone fruit like peaches and nectarines, along with watermelon and blueberries.

It’s a boldly colored affair with hints of fresh herbs and lime, and the perfect cooling summer salad to serve with just about anything on a hot day. The combination of fruit and cucumbers makes for a light and lively salad that’s utterly refreshing.  A handful of herbs like mint and basil along with a drizzle of olive oil, a few chopped salty kalamata olives and a sprinkling of toasty pumpkin seeds turn this dish into a more savory affair.  It’s everything great about summer in a bowl.

Serves serves 4

Sweet and Savory Cucumber Summer Fruit Salad (Paleo, Vegan)

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Sylvie Shirazi

A cooling cucumber noodle and summer fruit salad with a mix of sweet and savory flavors

20 minPrep Time

20 minTotal Time

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Ingredients

• 2 Tablespoons/30ml extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 Tablespoon/15ml fresh lime juice
• The zest of ½ a lime
• 1/4 teaspoon flaky sea salt
• Pinch of black pepper
• 2 long English hothouse cucumbers
• ¼ cup, chopped Kalamata olives
• 2 Tablespoons, chopped fresh basil
• 2 Tablespoons, chopped fresh mint
• 1 green onion, (green parts only) thinly sliced
• 1 large or 2 small peaches or nectarines, cut into bite sized pieces
• ½ cup fresh blueberries
• 1 cup cut watermelon
• ¼ cup/28g toasted pumpkin seeds

Instructions

1. Whisk together the extra-virgin olive oil, lime juice, lime zest, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Set aside.
2. Using a julienne peeler or spiralizer create long noodles from the cucumbers. Toss the cucumber noodles with the dressing. Add the chopped olives, basil, mint and green onion and toss again.
3. Divide cucumber noodles equally between plates, top with peaches, blueberries and watermelon and garnish with pumpkin seeds and serve.

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Sylvie

Sylvie Shirazi is the recipe developer and food photographer behind Gourmande in the Kitchen. For the last 10 years she’s been making eating more healthfully easy and accessible with gluten-free, grain-free, paleo and vegan recipes that are free from processed ingredients.