Beef Free Basil-Pesto Radish & Cucumber Salad
This vibrant salad is a celebration of fresh, garden-forward flavors — crisp cucumber rounds and peppery radish slices brought together by a bright, herb-packed basil pesto that you blitz together in minutes. The homemade pesto is the real star here: fresh basil and parsley, a hit of lemon juice, and good olive oil create a loose, coarse sauce that clings to every slice and tastes nothing like the jarred stuff. A quick salt-and-rest step draws out excess moisture from the vegetables first, so the pesto coats them cleanly rather than turning watery in the bowl. It's the kind of dish that looks impressive on a platter but comes together with almost no effort, making it perfect for weeknight dinners or a last-minute addition to a spread. Since every ingredient is naturally plant-based and straightforward, there's zero guesswork about what's in it — just clean, whole-food goodness from start to finish. Scatter a few torn basil leaves over the top before serving and it looks like something straight off a restaurant menu.
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Learn more →Ingredients
4 servings
For the pesto
- 2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
- ¼ cup fresh parsley leaves
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled
- ⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- ½ tsp fine sea salt
For the salad
- 2 medium english cucumbers, thinly sliced into rounds
- 1 bunch radishes (about 10–12), thinly sliced
- ¼ tsp fine sea salt
For serving
- 2 tbsp fresh basil leaves, torn (optional)
Instructions
- 1
Place the cucumber rounds and sliced radishes in a large mixing bowl. Sprinkle with 1/4 tsp salt, toss to coat, and let stand for 10 minutes until the vegetables release some of their liquid.
- 2
While the vegetables rest, combine the basil leaves, parsley, garlic, lemon juice, and sea salt in a food processor. Pulse 8–10 times until the herbs are roughly chopped.
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