Paleo Basil-Pesto Radish & Cucumber Salad
This vibrant salad is a celebration of fresh, clean flavors — crisp cucumber rounds and peppery radishes tossed in a bright, herbaceous pesto that you blitz together in minutes. The homemade basil-parsley sauce skips the cheese and nuts entirely, relying instead on good extra-virgin olive oil, lemon juice, and garlic to deliver that rich, coating consistency you want in a great pesto. That quick salt-and-rest step for the vegetables is a small but smart move — it draws out excess moisture so the pesto clings to every slice rather than pooling at the bottom of the bowl. The result is a salad that tastes far more composed than the effort involved. It works beautifully as a light lunch, a side dish alongside grilled proteins, or something to bring to a gathering where you want to impress without spending hours in the kitchen. Everything on the ingredient list is whole and unprocessed, so there's no label-reading required — just real food doing exactly what it should.
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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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