EyeSwoon Unplugged: Feta Cucumber Salad With Coriander and Fennel Seeds

This feta cucumber salad with coriander and fennel seeds is the simplest, the crunchiest, and the tastiest for springtime. It’s also a reminder that you do not have to make these laborious recipes for something to be super delicious. I initially had a salad very similar to this at Lilia Restaurant from Missy Robbins and it has forever been imprinted on my mind and tastebuds. Just the other day I visited a friend and made a heavier bolognese which I wanted to pair with something that was simple and refreshing on the palette to complement it. Today’s recipe is a little bit different from my usual flavor profiles because I always use herbs in my food and I always use citrus for my acid but for this feta cucumber salad, I use some really fun vinegar that I recently found, pickled shallots, creamy sheep milk feta, with coriander and fennel seeds that I toast, crush, and then toss over the top for that aromatic, sensorial impact. It’s just the best combination of flavors that is so simple but really explosive on the palette. This is one of my favorite new dishes that I plan to be making all spring long. I hope that it inspires your palette to try something new too. 

Read on for the feta cucumber salad and to shop my outfit on Mytheresa.com.

Feta Cucumber Salad With Coriander and Fennel Seeds

Ingredients

1 tbsp coriander seeds, toasted and crushed

1 tbsp fennel seeds, toasted and crushed

5 mini Persian cucumbers, cut into disks 

1/2 serrano chili, thinly sliced 

2 shallots, sliced thin on a mandolin 

Honey vinegar (champagne vinegar or lemon juice)

Yuzu vinegar (champagne vinegar or lemon juice)

Extra Virgin Olive Oil 

Flaky sea salt

Freshly cracked pepper

Sheep-milk feta cheese, crumbled

1 tbsp chopped pistachios, optional 

Method

Combine thinly sliced shallot, serrano chili, and vinegar, with a pinch of salt and pepper in a bowl. Set aside to quickly pickle.

Add coriander and fennel seeds to a pan and lightly toast until golden and aromatic. Transfer to a mortar and pestle to loosely crush them up. 

Add olive oil and a dash more vinegar, salt, and pepper to the pickled shallots mix, then pour over the Persian cucumber discs and evenly toss. 

Once combined, spread cucumber/shallot mix onto a platter and sprinkle the toasted crushed seeds on top so that they coat all of the cucumbers. Haphazardly tear the feta cheese apart, scattering clusters atop the cucumber. 

Sprinkle a little more of the seeds, flaky salt, and fresh black pepper on the top to garnish, followed by the chopped pistachios for added crunch. Finish with a little drizzle of olive oil and yuzu vinegar for added flavor.

Chef’s note: If you don’t have vinegar, lemon zest and juice would also work beautifully as the acid replacement in this salad.