Here we go again, throwing another party for about 60 people, reliving our Feasting 101 days. How do we get ourselves into these party predicaments? Todd’s dojo is holding their bi-annual rank test and the highly esteemed, highly trained and highly powerful black belt members asked if we would be gracious enough to hold another post-test luncheon. Ummm….do we have a choice? What if we said ….no…? We couldn’t run fast enough to hide from their quick, ninja-like moves. If anyone had to guts to courageously turn down a request made by high ranking black belts, it certainly isn’t us. Besides, Todd gets pounded enough at the dojo, he doesn’t need another beating. Let’s just say…sure fellas!…we would LOVE to cook for 60 dojo members! We would be so HAPPY to host this TALENTED gathering of like-minded MARTIAL ARTS enthusiasts.
No, seriously, now. We volunteered to host all the gatherings because we really do have fun getting together with some of the best people in the world and having the opportunity to feed them after their 3 hours of intense training and testing . It truly is, an honor. So for the next 12 days, we’ll be cleaning the house (stuffing and hiding everything in our closets), menu planning, prepping sauces, trying out new dishes (because many of them have already been to our last 2 gatherings), teaching our dogs how to be good hosts (stop the crotch sniffing! ) and more menu planning. We’ve got quite a bit of work ahead of us, but we’ll stick to the same battle plan that made our last two large gatherings a success. Cooking tasty, satisfying food for large groups can be a challenge, but as forge ahead during these next 12 days, we’ll be sharing all our party planning trials and tribulations with you.
The weather should be warm on June 7, the day of the party and obviously everyone is going to gathered in the backyard. Although this oddly erratic and temperamental weather we’ve been having lately is causing us to be a bit uneasy, we’ll be dancing the “no rain” dance everyday. Our house is way too small to host this huge guest list indoors. Lets hope it doesn’t rain. We’ll be f**…..in big trouble.
We’re planning on making a few, simple summer salads, full of cool, crisp, colorful and refreshing vegetable goodness. A cucumber salad sounds like a good idea and the dressing can be made in one big batch a few days ahead. Our local Vietnamese market is an absolute gold mine for fabulously, fresh, tender and inexpensive Japanese cucumbers. Perfect! We decided that a ginger-soy dressing that was a little creamier, with the addition of a little mayo, would hold to the slippery, watery texture of the sliced cucumbers better. We’ve made cucumber salads before, but after an hour or so, the oil separated too quickly from the rest of the dressing and the cucumbers drowned in a bath of grapeseed oil. But adding the tiny bit of mayo really binds the oil and vinegar together nicely . Tossed with some thinly sliced slivers of red onion, this cucumber salad will definitely be on the party menu. After the photograph was taken, we thought about maybe adding some crushed, roasted peanuts, but will probably not add those to this menu because there will be a few guests who are allergic to peanuts. But for other occasion, we’ll add the peanuts for that extra special crunch.
One dish is down! Now many more do we have to go. Help! Any recommendations?
Print This RecipeCucumbers with Creamy Ginger-Soy Dressing Recipe
Ingredients:
1 pound sliced cucumbers
1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion
Creamy Ginger-Soy Dressing
1 T sesame oil
2 T rice vinegar
2 T soy sauce
1/2 t sugar
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 T fresh ginger, crushed or grated
1 t fresh ground black pepper
3/4 cup grape seed oil
1 T mayonnaise
1. Slice cucumbers and red onion thin, or to desired thickness. Place in cucumbers bowl with paper towel to blot out excess moisture. Remove paper towel.
2. In a mason jar, combine all ingredients together and shake the jar well to dissolve sugar and combine ingredients. OR in large bowl, combine all ingredients and whisk together until all ingredients are combined.
3. Toss dressing with cucumbers then top with red onions.
Serves 6.
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{ 46 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi, guys,
Sounds likes you’re planning a feast! Have you ever tried Kewpie Mayonnaise? It’s Japanese and comes in this little package with a – you guessed it – Kewpie doll on it. I haven’t tried it but read about it in a cookbook written by a chef who uses it as a secret ingredient. Maybe you want to snag (looks like a) tube of it and give it a try. Might be good in your salad dressing. Will you be serving any meat or poultry, or is everyone a vegetarian that’s coming to the party?
Love those delicious thin-skinned cucumbers — they aren’t that easy to find here, and when I see them I buy them just to have on hand for snacking. Good luck with the rest of your party menu — and I hope you have perfect weather!
Really delicious and refreshing salade.
Have a wonderful party
Now this is what I call refreshing for the warm days to come!
cukes are one of my favorite summertime foods. they’re already so light and crisp and refreshing, and that dressing makes them even more enticing. plus, i just like to say cukes. makes me sound cool, don’t ya think?
I can’t wait to try this dressing. I love cukes too, so this is a perfect side dish. Thanks guys!
fun! Some of my favorite party foods are:
-any sort of panzanella (tomato + fresh raw corn is great; so is strawberry (check 101Cookbooks for a good recipe))
-puff pastry tart with ricotta, herbs, & roasted veggies
-figs w/ goat cheese (perhaps it’s too early in the season for figs?)
-bacon wrapped jalapeno halves with cream cheese
-zucchini bread cut into 1 inch ‘bites’
-peel & eat shrimp
-mini sandwiches with slow-braised shredded pork
I could go on forever! Good luck with your party!
ummm, cool, I love cucumber & onion salads and yours look delicious.
Good luck guys!! The cucumbers look great. One thing that went down really well at our party was steak bites. Rediculously simple – a toasted thin piece of really good baguette, topped with super-thinly sliced medium-rare beef, with either horseradish or olive tapenade on top. Bloody simple to make, and they went really fast. Course, we were having to feed “meat and two veg” people too!
Whoa…you have you’re work cut out. Chicken (other meats too) satays are quick, easy and delish. Stay away from mayo (bad with the sun), salsas, roasted corn & avocado salad, pulled pork. Go wild, have fun and don’t get freaked out..enjoy!
The dressing sounds great! I’m always looking for new dressing ideas. Thanks!
Cucumber salad should be a winner with that dressing. And perfect for after a test!
yummy. you could make som tam.
http://jugalbandi.info/2007/05/som-tam-green-papaya-salad/
60 people. Man, you guys really can entertain! I guess I’ll wait until you’re done with the party before I stop by. Hmm. Or maybe I should crash the party and get fed too?
Crotch-sniffing pups are a great way to start a conversation! ^_^ Why do I have this feeling that Sierra and Dante are going to be the life of the party…?
That cucumber salad sounds nice an refreshing.
Love the addition of just a tiny bit of mayo for the “creamy” part. This sounds delicious!
Wonderful recipe! I love cuke salads like this one…one down for the menu tomorrow!
The cucumber salad looks great! Have fun hosting and cooking for the dojo members.
Wow, that’s ambitious!
I wonder if you could get the bread from a sub place to make your own 12-foot subs. (Or 12-foot banh mi?) You’d need to borrow industrial fridge space, though.
Good luck with the party guys – I have no doubts that you are fab hosts. Hope the dogs learn to be good hosts too!
What I wouldn’t give to go to a party at your place!
FUN! That cucumber salad looks delicious…the dressing is awesome! What sorts of suggestions are you looking for? Japanese themed? Gyozas spring to mind, different types of maki, maybe some pork and scallion meatballs with soy/sesame/ginger dipping sauce… ponzu sauced grilled fish…I could go on and on…I love planning parties! lol 
Summery salads sound like a great idea for the bash. I don’t believe I’ve ever done a cucumber sort of salad. It looks great! We’ve got a bunch of Asian markets too so methinks I can find those cucumbers somewhere around here!
Cucumber salad is seriously one of my favorite parts of summer! Yum!
You took beautiful pictures. Can you share with me your camera equipment?
A great recipe. I grew up eating a salad very similar to this. My mother would chop up cucumbers and dress them with vinegar, soy sauce, and sugar. It was so simple and delicious. This takes that to a whole new level, with a little added excitement. I definitely plan to make this.
Great recipe! I wonder how a little wasabi would go snuck into that dressing? My guess is real good!
One of my all time favourite recipes for a party/barbecue is this broad (fava) and soy bean salad with pancetta and herbs – yum!
http://helengraves.co.uk/?p=221
i love love cucumber salad..but i never tried makign a creamy dressing with it..cant wait to try this dressing!! yum!!
ps, specially now i think i really need to do some diet, cucumber salad is the answer
60 people! You must be crazy. The salad looks amazing though. Right up my alley- no mayo!
ahhh… the old “teach my dog not to sniff crotches” trick. I wish someone could teach my parent’s dog to “stop pretending he’s a giant dog thinking he could kick the shit out of real giant dogs” or “stop humping new people’s legs”.
oh, and you’re crazy for taking on this 60-people feast! i freaked out feeding 12 for christmas! you should’ve saved those pulled pork sammies for something like this. Cheap, delicious and finger-lickin’ good!
Lovely! I will send you a recipe that I think you may like
Yeah, I remember that crotch sniffing pup!
You two are pros, this will be easy!! I hope the weather holds out for you two as well as us, we are having about 10 over to our tiny place, yes, you would definitely be invited if you only lived up here!
Thanks for the salad recipe, I picked up a big boy to make a salad out of for dinner tomorrow – we are rolling, too!
What a refreshing salad you’ve made and the dressing sounds perfect.
I can see now why they are asking you again. Your buffet looked fabulous. I can’t wait to see the pictures of the next one. Good luck.
Delicious! Banh mis for 5 dozen coming up!
I hope everything is accomplished without any problems!!
I’m impressed that you make time for party prep and blogging! Lucky for us, since this recipe sounds like such a nice summery dish. I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you to have good weather.
Sounds like a wonderful summer salad and I really like the ginger soy dressing. Perfect.
wonderful. gorgeous. delicioso. tremendo y fantastico… deveras.
i just had something similar at Ted’s Montana Grill, but NOTHING like this… you should send them your recipe and get paid!
i’m sorry i’ve been out of touch. been traveling again w/ little time to snoop around, but have time for a month so i’ll be playing catch up in a major way on here… like the garden? whoa there!
I hope you guys take a ton a pics at your partay because I want to see what all you serve!!
I make a japanese cuke salad – same cukes sliced thin and then bring some rice wine vinegar and a few tsps of sugar to a boil until sugar dissolves, then cool, then pour over cukes. Sprinkle sesame seeds. I love to serve it with asian bbq! for some reason my mind is drawing a blank on other good ‘cue-style dishes… If my brain starts up again, I’ll drop a line. xxoo
60 people … u guys are really perfect hosts, i’d be taring my hair apart. how i wish i was your neighbour at this time, but for now i can only suggest some nice dessert recipes
, hopefully on your coming posts that is… lemme think till then.
Lol! I do the “run around stuffing everything in closets, under the bed, in the laundry room shuffle” too! I’m glad I’m not the only one.
I really like the addition of mayo in the dressing. Great idea! I’m looking forward to the party countdown and seeing all the other goodies you have in store.
I’m going to make this tomorrow for my niece’s graduation….this and ECM’s bar recipe – that’s my contribution and I’m sure both of these recipes will allow me to keep my title as Favorite Auntie…this sounds soo, sooooo good! Thanks! Nan
Thank you for sharing the recipe. I always have fun peeking at what you have going on in the kitchen. It keeps me thinking!
I tried the recipe yesterday but substituted tahini for the mayonnaise. It was out of this world!
Hello! I was doing a search on Sriracha the other day and somehow came across your blog. Diane had commented on Gourmet.com, so I followed your link and I’m loving your website and all your amazing recipes! I just made this cucumber and creamy ginger salad and its delicious! I only used 1/2 cup of the grapeseed oil, though. I used Aji-mirin rice seasoning….I hope thats the same as rice vinegar. I always thought so, but now I’m perplexed!
Your dogs are adorable! I love the pictures of them sniffing the white peaches!! Take care!
Shelley
Made this for July 4th today! The dressing is DELISH!