Although New England refuses to admit it, spring IS actually here. And although the beef stew I have planned for dinner tonight is more fitting of this weather than, say, a spinach salad, I will continue to plan my health snack Wednesdays as though Boston likes to play nice with Mother Nature. That being said, today’s healthy snack was mirrored after two of my all time favorite munchies. One is pickles (pickles- you will ALWAYS be #1 to me!). Two is something I crave constantly, but haven’t found a Boston version to match my Florida taste buds, Thai Cucumber Salad.
The challenge of matching two of my favorite snacks, in a healthy way, was not so hard. I wanted sweet, I wanted spicy, I wanted cucumbers. Done! Imagine my surprise when the ingredients I threw together, in amounts I just guessed at, came out to be quite possible the perfect cucumber snack! They are not to tart from the vinegar or too sweet from the sugar. I also didn’t think they were too spicy to eat all day – although I am sure others would disagree with me on that! I did drain the rest of the marinade after 12 hours of soaking, just FYI. 
As a matter of fact, I don’t even want to take them to the work fridge today. I just want to keep them on my desk so I can keep on snacking on! And I think I may do just that….
Before I leave you with the recipe, tell me readers, what is your favorite road trip snack? I am looking for some road trip worthy healthy snack posts and would love your ideas! Even if you have a favorite not-so-healthy road trip snack, you know I like a challenge!
Sweet & Spicy Cucumbers
Click here for printable recipe
Ingredients:
- 5 small “salad” or “pickling” cucumbers
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup fresh chopped cilantro
- 1/4 vidalia onion thinly sliced
- 2/3 cup white vinegar
- 3 Tbsp sugar
- Sriracha
- Red pepper flakes
Directions
- Slice cucumbers very thinly (I use a mandolin slicer). You may remove the peel first or leave it on (I left it on).
- Place cucumber slices in a colander over a bowl or the sink.
- Sprinkle cucumbers with salt and allow to sit in the colander for 15 minutes.
- Rinse and drain cucumbers and place in your mixing bowl.
- Add cilantro, onion and the desired amount of red pepper flakes to the cucumbers and toss.
- In a separate bowl, combine vinegar, sugar and sriracha (I use 10 drops)
- Whisk the vinegar mixture until the sugar completely dissolves
- Pour marinade over cucumbers and toss well
- Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour
- Enjoy cucumbers as a refreshing and zesty snack, or as a side dish!
Eat.Live.Blog. 
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