The summer fruits and vegetables are coming in fast and furious now despite the drought (thanks to assiduous irrigation), and the farmers’ market looks like a vast, spewed-out cornucopia. Squash, melons, scallions, onions, beans, beets, eggplant, hot and sweet peppers, berries and tomatoes. Many of these things make terrific cold meals, the only way to survive the oppressive heat we’re promised for the next few days. But of all of summer’s bounty, cucumbers with their crisp, watery coolness and their mild refreshing flavor are one of the best things to eat in the heat. Sliced thin, sprinkled with a little rice wine vinegar, salt, pepper and layered with thin-sliced scallions on whole grain bread that’s been slathered with good mayo, cucumber sandwiches are the ultimate in light, hot-weather lunches, like a little visit to the Queen’s Tea on the Misty Isle. And since there’s only 50 calories in a cupful, cucumbers are not only cool going down, they don’t produce lots of heat in you.
Cucumbers are good sources of vitamin K and potassium (something you tend to deplete in hot weather when you’re drinking lots of water). They also provide decent doses of vitamin C, riboflavin, manganese and pantothenic acid, (vitamin B5, an essential micronutrient for life). All good things to keep in mind, but the great thing is how much you can do with them.
Cucumber soup, gazpacho, tzatziki, and cousous with chopped cucumber, tomato, lemon juice and olive oil, plain old cucumber and tomato salad with basil and a little vinaigrette or wilted cucumber salad with sour cream. I’ve been whacking up the dapper little cukes coming off my ‘Greenhouse’ vine, a garden variety that produces fruits with tiny seeds and thin skin, and throwing them into a big bowl of Greek salad that keeps in the frig for several days. It’s easy to nip out of the air-conditioned office and grab some then run back in before the sweat breaks out. Add black beans to it as in the recipe link below, and you’ve got a satisfying vegetarian meal.
Spring rolls with cucumbers make a good hot-weather supper. Wrap rice paper or a large lettuce leaf around a little bundle of smoked or canned salmon or shrimp, a couple of spears of cuke, a scallion, maybe an avocado slice and some grated carrot, add a dash of soy sauce or tamari and dip it into sweet chili sauce or peanut sauce. These can stretch a small slab of smoked salmon both deliciously and elegantly (well, not so elegantly once you’ve dripped the chili sauce off your chin, but it starts out looking really nice on a plate).
If you have the energy to plan ahead a little, Silver Palate has a great recipe for salmon mousse that is heavily reliant on grated cukes. It won’t satisfy the Visigoths or growing boys in your house, but you can fling a hamburger or three at that crowd along with a big salad.
There are a number of cooling drinks using cucumbers — slices add welcome freshness to sangria. Agua Fresca de Pepino (cucumber, water, lime and sugar) is a heat-beating south-of-the-border staple, while the recipe below for Cucumber Cocktail will be perfect for those who refuse to give up happy hour regardless of the temperature.
Sautéed sweet and sour cucumbers make a quick and easy accompaniment for broiled or grilled fish. Peel and slice them into short spears then sauté them until translucent in a little oil with salt, pepper, sugar, a little white wine vinegar, and some fresh dill if you’ve got it. Takes about 6 minutes all told. Refrigerator-pickled cucumbers (sliced and marinated for a few hours or overnight) are really good with Korean grilled beef, which takes next to no time to grill so you’re outside in the heat a minimum amount of time.
Then there are homemade bread and butter pickles, the summertime gift that keeps on giving. I use a recipe from Maryland’s Way Cookbook. (The link to the one below is virtually the same thing.). We use these pickles to top hamburgers, as hot dog relish, minced for tartar sauce, layered beneath the cheese on a tuna melt, and eaten right out of the jar (actually forked into a bowl for hygiene’s sake) when you crave something sweet without attacking the bittersweet baking bar. Bread and butter pickles – so-called because once upon a time they were a good lunch with bread and butter and those partaking were glad to get it – are not hard to make, though it does take some effort (a food processor for the slicing helps a lot). And once made, you can pull them off the shelves all winter long – and feel incredibly proud of yourself — which makes the effort well worth it.
Gazpacho
4 tomatoes, peeled, kinda seeded and quartered
2 cucumbers, seeded (a teaspoon run down the middle does this easily) and whacked into chunks
½ small sweet onion, rough-chopped
1 mildly hot pepper (depending on your taste)
½ med sweet pepper, chunked
juice of 1 lime
dash white wine vinegar
1 clove fresh garlic, sliced
salt, pepper, splash of olive oil
Fling it all into a food processor and pulse for a chunky texture, or put it into a blender if you want it totally smooth. Chill for a couple of hours. Very nice with a bit of garlic bread and some Manchego cheese.
Greek Salad
Chunks of cuke, halved cherry tomatoes, black olives, fish peppers (mildly hot) or pickled hot peppers, sliced Spanish onion, feta. Combine all in the lemon dressing recipe below and marinate for about an hour in the frig before eating.
Lemon Dressing
juice and zest of one lemon
½ tsp Kosher salt
freshly ground pepper
½ tsp sugar
¼ up olive oil
Whisk dressing in the bottom of the bowl into which you chop the vegetables and then toss to coat when everything’s chopped up.
https://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/creamy_cucumber_soup.html
https://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1748,155189-254200,00.html
https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/cold-cucumber-soup-recipe/index.html
https://allrecipes.com/Recipe/cucumber-soup-i/detail.aspx
https://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Tzatziki-I/Detail.aspx
https://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Vietnamese-Sandwich/Detail.aspx
https://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Thai-Noodles/Detail.aspx
https://allrecipes.com/recipe/absolutely-amazing-ahi/detail.aspx
https://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/chile_crusted_scallops_with_cucumber_salad.html
https://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/cucumber_black_eyed_pea_salad.html
https://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/seared_scallops_with_saut_ed_cucumbers.html
https://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/tropical_cucumber_salad.html
https://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/chicken_cucumber_noodle_salad.html
https://cooklikeyourgrandmother.com/2008/07/how-to-make-bread-and-butter-pickles/
https://www.yumsugar.com/Happy-Hour-Cucumber-Cocktail-754163
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