Cashew Free Basil-Pesto Radish & Cucumber Salad
Bright, herby, and refreshingly crisp, this salad is a celebration of peak-garden flavors that comes together with almost no effort. The pesto here skips the nuts entirely — built instead on fresh basil, parsley, garlic, lemon juice, and good olive oil — so it delivers that vibrant, punchy sauce you want without any of the tree-nut concerns that make traditional pesto tricky. Thin-sliced cucumbers and radishes get a quick salt rest to draw out excess moisture, which means the pesto actually clings to every round instead of sliding off into a watery puddle at the bottom of the bowl. The result is a salad that stays bright and bold rather than soggy, even if it sits on the table for a bit. That loose, coarse-textured herb sauce is genuinely addictive — you'll want to spoon it over everything else on the plate. It works beautifully as a light lunch, a side for grilled proteins, or an easy dish to bring to a summer gathering where you want something that looks impressive but took almost no time to pull off.
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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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