Cucumber and Sour Cherry Salad

This is a recipe I make and eat out in the garden on a sunny days. It’s cool and refreshing. 

• 2 cups fresh sour cherries
• 2 medium sized garden cucumbers, or 1 English cucumber
• Salad oil of your choice, olive oil or something local if you can find it, about 2 tablespoons.
• Approx. 1 tb apple cider vinegar, or to taste.
• Salt
• Drizzle of honey, about 1 tablespoon
• Rose petal thyme- this is a thyme variety with a rosy floral note, substitute regular fresh thyme
• Fennel pollen- a good substitute could be fennel fronds.

Slice down center of cucumbers and deseed or peel if necessary. Using a knife, break into smaller, uneven pieces. Pit and add sour cherries. Dress the salad with oil, salt, vinegar, and honey to taste. Pick about 1 tsp of thyme leaves, add these with 1/2 tsp of fennel pollen or fennel fronds if using. Let marinate about 20 minutes before eating.

Be sure to read our interview: Deirdre Fraser: The Plant Wizard of Pearl Morissette, also in this issue.

Deidre Fraser is known as the Plant Wizard. She is a gardener and forager for Pearl Morissette, a restaurant with an inspired menu at one of Canada’s finest winery estates, located in Niagara, Ontario.