Jalapeno Popper Cucumber Salad

We have been big fans of new salad recipes around here this summer.  I love the Cucumber & Sweet Pepper Salad and the Apple & Manchego Cheese Salad.  In the past I have made Jalapeno Popper Potato Salad, which is the Devilish Nephew's favorite.  It is always a huge hit at tailgate too.  Just a different twist on the standard potato salad. Now we have a twist on the standard cucumber salad.  I made this one a few weeks ago when we went to visit said Devilish Nephew and he really liked it too.  It goes with anything, but we really enjoyed it with a traditional barbecue including smoked ribs.  It evolved over the few times I've made it and we finally settled on this recipe.  You could even include some diced, cooked bacon for the true jalapeno popper effect.  I haven't tried adding that yet, but I may when I make this for tailgate this football season.  It's already on my list of tried and true recipes that I know a crowd will love.  It is easily made ahead of time too, for convenience.  I do all of the chopping and prep, and make the dressing.  Then I combine everything when ready to serve so the cucumbers don't get too watery.  The amount of dressing it takes is not much, because you just want the cucumbers to have a light coating.  That keeps this salad light, refreshing and fairly healthy.  Give this a try soon, it's a light and tasty twist on an ordinary cucumber salad!

A light and refreshing twist on a cucumber salad.
This has lots of flavor and crunch!

Prep your salad ingredients ahead of time,
and make your dressing.  Then combine when
ready to serve.

Garnish with green onions, sliced fresh jalapeno peppers,
and everything bagel seasoning for extra crunch.

JALAPENO POPPER CUCUMBER SALAD

For the Salad:

2 English cucumbers, thinly sliced
1/2 red onion, finely diced
1 fresh jalapeno pepper, very thinly sliced, or seeded and diced
4 ounces Cheddar cheese, grated

For the Dressing:

4 Tablespoons Chive & Onion Cream Cheese
1 Tablespoon Greek yogurt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon soy sauce

For the Garnish:

1 green onion - green part only, sliced
1 small jalapeno, thinly sliced
Everything Bagel Seasoning to taste

In a large salad bowl, combine sliced cucumbers, red onion, jalapeno and cheddar cheese.  Set aside.
With a hand mixer, blender or small food processor: Combine cream cheese, yogurt, garlic powderk, smoked paprika, sea salt and soy sauce.  Mix until well combined.  (This mixture will be thick - not runny like a traditional salad dressing.) 

When ready to serve, toss the cucumber mixture with the dressing mixture until the cucumbers are coated.  Then add the green onions, everything bagel seasoning and a sliced fresh jalapeno for garnish.