Like many others, I recently caught the spiralizer food craze. It’s been fun coming up with the myriad of spiralized dish possibilities. After testing different versions, I came up with this yummy cucumber salad with Armenian braided string cheese. It was definitely a winner with everyone in my household. This cheese is similar to mozzarella and is frequently eaten at breakfast along with olives, cucumbers, and tomatoes. My children like this cheese because it’s mild like mozzarella, plus, they think it’s fun to see how thin they can shred it. I put this salad together in about 15 minutes.
I can sometimes find this cheese in conventional supermarkets. If not, I buy it from Mediterranean/Middle-Eastern markets in my area. You can always substitute regular mozzarella string cheese for the Armenian kind.
Some popular brands of Armenian string cheese are Karoun and Arz (pictured below).
Here is what you’ll need:
- 3-4 oz. Armenian braided string cheese or regular mozzarella string cheese, shredded into thin strips
- 7-8 Persian cucumbers, peeled and spiralized
- 3 tbsp. olive oil
- 1 handful of basil leaves, about 1/2 cup packed leaves
- 1 clove garlic, crushed
- 1 tbsp. lemon juice
- 1/4 tsp. salt
Shred the string cheese into thin strips and spiralize the cucumbers. Set together in a bowl.
Using a food processor or grinder, combine the olive-oil, basil, garlic, lemon juice and salt and blend. Do not emulsify. Just mix until you see tiny specks of basil.
Pour over the cucumbers and cheese and toss well. Now it’s ready to serve.
Sarelle Plays 