This easy recipe for cucumber wrap salad with bacon and blue cheese looks very fancy, but is a simple and elegant first course! Wow your guests with this at your next dinner or holiday party.
Okay, so about this cucumber wrap salad with bacon and blue cheese thing I have going on here. I have to state for the record right here that this is EXACTLY the kind of recipe I usually run away from as fast as possible. It looks hard to make, and it involves inserting little strips of carrots into the center just so, and the cucumber-made-into-a-bowl part looks fraught with peril.
But those two strips of bacon. I couldn’t get them out of my mind, because ME AND BACON. And finally one day I gave in to temptation and purchased a cucumber.
And guess what? This was pretty much as easy as it gets. You peel thin strips of the cucumber with a vegetable peeler or a mandoline…make the strips as thin as you can, because the thinner they are the easier they will turn into these little bottomless bowls. I have an OXO Good Grips Mandoline Slicer 
and I love it…just be SUPER careful if you are using one, because those babies are sharp. Form the cucumber strip into a circle and fasten the ends together with a toothpick.
In the meantime, cut some bacon in half and cook it up however you like to…I always cook bacon for about 10-12 minutes in a 400 degree oven and it comes out just perfect. Yes, you do have to cut up a carrot into little strips, but with bacon on the horizon, I was willing to cut up carrots.
Tear up some lettuce and toss it with your favorite dressing (a balsamic vinaigrette works great with this recipe), some crumbled blue cheese and some chopped pecans. Or walnuts…or whatever kind of nut catches your fancy. Now take your favorite tongs, scoop up some of the lettuce mixture and nestle it into your cucumber bowls. Fill them right up. When you are done, stand two pieces of bacon and some of those carrot strips into the lettuce mixture.
Now stand back and look modest.
And the moral of the story? Never try and resist bacon. It always ends up happily ever after.
Cucumber Wrap Salad with Bacon and Blue Cheese
This easy recipe for cucumber wrap salad with bacon and blue cheese looks very fancy, but is a simple and elegant first course!
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 18 minutes
- Total Time: 38 minutes
- Yield: 4-6 servings
- Category: Side Dish
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons chopped pecans (or use any other favorite nuts you like)
- 2 medium English cucumbers
- 3 cups mixed baby greens
- 2 cooked thick-cut bacon slices, halved
- 1/3 cup shredded or matchstick carrots
- 1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese
- Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
- Salad dressing to taste (any sort of vinaigrette will work great)
Instructions
- Place chopped pecans in a single layer in a shallow pan. Bake at 350º for 8 minutes or until lightly toasted, stirring occasionally. Let cool 30 minutes or until completely cool.
- Using a mandoline slicer or a vegetable peeler (and being super careful because mandolines are sharp!), cut cucumbers lengthwise into very thin strips just until seeds are visible. Discard cucumber core. Shape largest cucumber slices into 4 (2 1/2- to 2 3/4-inch-wide) rings and secure with a toothpick.
- Stand rings upright on 4 serving plates. Fill each cucumber ring evenly with mixed greens, next 3 ingredients, and toasted pecans. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Drizzle each salad with vinaigrette.
Karen says
Question: I’d like to make cucumber rings ahead (say 4-5 hours ahead) and fill with greens when serving. Is there any reason not to do this? Will the cucumber keep its’ color and firmness if done ahead?
That should work just fine, especially if you keep it in the fridge. Cukes don’t lose color, and if refrigerated should keep their consistency very well.
Jessica says
You inspired me to try this. It didn’t exactly turn out the same, probably because I don’t have a vegetable peeler of any sort. So I had to get creative and I made mine in cupcake liners, instead. You can see them here (I put your picture on my blog and hyperlinked it back to here):
http://redonblack.weebly.com/1/post/2013/05/mini-salad-with-a-twist.html
Love your version, and love that you didn’t give up! :)
Jessica says
How do you keep the salad from falling out when you transfer the salad wrap from serving dish to personal plate?
Kate says
I use a spatula to slide under the whole thing (using the other hand to hold it together) and then carefully put on a plate. And of course, you can also assemble them right on serving plates…even easier!
Kate Morgan Jackson says
You can definitely serve it as a side dish (it would be great with grilled steak), or as a very dramatic first course. Finger food might be hard, as it kind of collapses once you cut into the cute cucumber bowl. :)
Evelyn says
This is beautiful!! Can't wait to try it. Is it something you serve as a side dish, or would it work as a finger food for a buffet?
FramedCooks says
Hi Christi! So glad you like them – they ARE dramatic, aren't they? I think the key to getting them to stick is to make the slices as thin as possible – almost transparent. The thicker they are, the less pliant and flexible. I used a mandoline, which you can adjust to slice things super-thin. At the end of the day, I don't think a toothpick is a bad back-up plan though. The other thing you could try is to mush up a small bit of the cheese and see if that works as a kind of glue…but I think your best bet is to get them as thin as possible. Hope this helps!
Christi says
I love this…so much that I fixed it tonight for supper when we had guest over. It was definitely a WOW factor of the meal. Just wondering if there is any special trick to the cucumber slices sticking together? I know that you mention above the moisture will make them stick together, but mine did not do that. I had to use a toothpick to keep mine together. Could you give me some pointers??
Frances says
I found another web site that said they cut up half way on one end and half way down on the other and end and hook them togother
FramedCooks says
I know, isn't it adorable looking? I almost felt bad knocking it down in the eating process…but not bad enough HOT to eat it. It's bacon, after all. :)
Jessica @ My World - Made By Hand says
This is so much fun {and so is your picture}. I'm your newest follower from Be Different, Act Normal.
Melissa @IWasBornToCook says
This is a great looking salad! And I never try to resist bacon…it's just pointless :)
Joanne says
That presentation is just adorable! I would definitely make it just for that alone. But I know what you mean about carrot sticks…sometimes they're just too much to ask for. This seems worth it, though.
vanillasugar says
ooohhh i love that you put pecans in there.
i love everything about this. can i have 5 please? lol