Summer is here, and sometimes I get tired of eating the same old salad. With ballet being so weight conscious we get consumed with the idea of calorie counting, or monitoring our diets. Recently, I was playing around in the kitchen and this is what I have come up with. Since then I have been eating it probably like twice a week. Hope you enjoy.

English Cucumber or Persian Cucumber, halved, seeded, sliced, and salted to take the water out. This allows for the vinegar to be absorbed… 8 calories
¼ Cup Sliced Red Onion… 16 calories (I soak mine in ice water for a bit to take out the intensity of flavor)
1 Tablespoon of freshly chopped mint (i pull it apart and don’t use a knife on herbs) … 1 calorie
2 tablespoons of White Wine Vinegar (a good quality white wine vinegar) … 5 calories
1 Tablespoon of Lemon Juice (go fresh, or not) … 2 calories
make it Greek: add a table of olive oil, cherry tomatoes, and feta cheese
make it Asian: add blanched bean sprouts, cabbage, garlic, use rice wine vinegar
make it Latin: use cilantro instead of mint, tajin instead of salt, and mango
make it Meatier: serve on grilled salmon

Excuse the knife work skills (My sister gets annoyed I don’t slice everything exactly the same.) Also, the longer it stays in the vinegar the more pickled the cucumbers become, so if you aren’t a fan of that pickled flavor, don’t add the vinegar till right before you eat it.