Cucumber and Radish Salad with Feta, Red Wine Vinegar, and Buttermilk Dressing

This Cucumber and Radish Salad with Feta, Red Wine Vinegar, and Buttermilk Dressing is easy but delicious! And this tasty salad idea is low-carb, Keto, low-glycemic, meatless, gluten-free, and South Beach Diet friendly! Use the Diet-Type Index to find more recipes like this one.

Click to PIN Cucumber and Radish Salad with Feta, Red Wine Vinegar, and Buttermilk Dressing!

When I updated my collection of 25 Low-Carb Cucumber Salads, I mentioned that this Cucumber and Radish Salad with Feta, Red Wine Vinegar, and Buttermilk Dressing needed a new photo, and I’m so happy to be able to share photos that I hope will entice you to try this; it’s one of my long-time favorite summer salads!

It’s really the flavorful dressing with Feta cheese that makes this Cucumber and Radish Salad salad such a winner, but when I first posted this recipe (in 2010!) It took a bit of experimenting to get the salad just right; feedback from recipe testers on the first two attempts asked for smaller pieces, more feta, and less vinegar flavor in the vinaigrette, and I thought those changes made the salad better.

I used small, crisp Persian cucumbers (also called mini cucumbers) in the salad to make the radishes and cucumbers more equally crisp. Of course if you’re lucky enough to have fresh garden cucumbers, definitely use them in this salad but I wouldn’t use large watery cucumbers with a lot of seeds. The Persian cucumbers didn’t need to be salted to draw out water, and that kept the leftover salad good in a fridge for a day, so they were a perfect choice. You might think cucumbers and radishes are an unusual combination for a salad, but I promise if you like both those vegetables you’ll make this easy salad over and over like I do!

Cut eight Persian cucumbers in half lengthwise, then into half-moon slices about 1/2 inch thick. I didn’t peel the Persian cucumbers, but if you don’t have this thin-skinned type of cucumber, you might want to peel some strips of skin off. Trim stem and root ends of radishes and wash, then cut radishes in half lengthwise and cut into slices just slightly thinner than the cucumber pieces. Toss radishes and cucumbers together in a bowl.

I adapted a Creamy Feta-Red Wine Vinegar Salad Dressing recipe from David Lebovitz to make the dressing. Start by mashing together feta, red wine vinegar, and chopped fresh thyme (or crushed dried thyme will work in a pinch.) Then stir in  olive oil and buttermilk and stir the dressing together. I loved the tang of buttermilk in this, but if you’re not a buttermilk fan you could use milk, or water like David did.

Stir the dressing into the cucumber-radish mixture, season with salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste, and serve the Cucumber and Radish Salad with a bit more crumbled feta sprinkled on top.

Make it a Meal: For a low-carb meal, this would be great with something like Grilled Lamb Chops with Garlic, Rosemary, and Thyme or Low-Carb Marinated Beef Kabobs.

More Interesting Recipes with Radishes:

Crunchy Chopped Salad with Gorgonzola and Radishes ~ Kalyn’s Kitchen
Shaved Apple and Radish Salad ~ The View from Great Island
Roasted Radishes with Soy Sauce and Toasted Sesame Seed ~ Kalyn’s Kitchen
Red Radish Salad ~ Give Recipe
Easy Broccoli and Radish Low-Carb Salad with Gorgonzola ~ Kalyn’s Kitchen
Radish and Butter Bites ~ Nutmeg Nanny

Print Recipe

Cucumber and Radish Salad with Feta, Red Wine Vinegar, and Buttermilk Dressing

Yield: 4-6 servings

Total Time: 15 minutes

Prep Time: 15 minutes

It’s the interesting dressing with Feta cheese that makes this Cucumber and Radish Salad with Feta, Red Wine Vinegar, and Buttermilk Dressing so delicious!

Ingredients:

• 8 small Persian cucumbers (or other small cucumbers without large seeds)
• 10-12 large radishes
• 1/2 cup + 1/4 cup crumbled Feta cheese
• 1 T red wine vinegar
• 1 1/2 tsp. chopped fresh thyme (or use 1/2 tsp. crushed dried thyme, but fresh thyme is definitely better)
• 1 1/2 T olive oil
• 3 T buttermilk (or use regular milk or water)

Directions:

1. Cut ends off cucumbers, cut in half lengthwise, then cut into half-moon slices about 1/4 inch thick.
2. Wash radishes and trim ends, then cut in half lengthwise and cut into half-moon slices just slightly thinner than cucumbers. Put cucumbers and radishes into salad bowl.
3. Put 1/2 cup crumbled feta into a bowl or measuring cup. Add chopped fresh thyme (or crushed dried thyme) and red wine vinegar and mash slightly with a fork. (I like to leave it a little chunky.) Stir in olive oil and buttermilk (or use regular milk or water if you prefer.)
4. Stir the dressing into the salad. Season to taste with salt and fresh ground black pepper (I didn’t use much salt.)
5. Serve with the extra 1/4 cup crumbled feta sprinkled over the salad.
6. This will keep in the fridge for a day or two, but it’s better freshly made.

The dressing in this recipe adapted from Creamy Feta-Red Wine Vinegar Salad Dressing from David Lebovitz.

All images and text ©Kalyn Denny for Kalyn's Kitchen.

Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
Cucumber and Radish Salad with Feta, Red Wine Vinegar, and Buttermilk Dressing is a great choice for low-carb diets, and it’s also good for any phase of the South Beach Diet, or any other low-glycemic eating plan.

Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use the Diet Type Index to find more recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You can also Follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.

Nutritional Information?
If you want nutritional information for a recipe, you can sign up for a free membership with Yummly and use the Yum button on my site to save the recipe and see the nutritional information. Another option is entering the recipe into this Recipe Nutrition Analyzer, which will calculate it for you.