Cucumber Recipe Ideas

Cucumbers are good raw in salad and sandwiches. Or peel and cut into sticks and serve plain or with dip. Or make a gourmet salad: sharp cheese, Greek olives, tomatoes, and cukes, all chunked and tossed with raw greens and salad dressing. Or serve cuke slices with chipped onion, tomato, raw greens, and blue cheese dressing.

CUCUMBER BOATS
If allowed to grow, cucumbers will get very large--as long as 10 inches or so. Such a fat cucumber makes a fine child's boat for the bathtub. Cut in half lengthwise, scoop out the seeds, and there's your boat. You can feed the other oversized, yellowed or imperfect cucumbers to the chickens or pigs. When feeding them to chickens, first break cukes open. If the chickens aren't hungry enough to stoop to cucumbers, the cukes will still make a fine compost.

CUCUMBER SANDWICHES
In summer we eat lots of cucumber sandwiches, a quick lunch at a time of year when cucumbers are abundant and time is not. Peel and slice fresh cucumbers. Spread homemade bread with mayo, layer on a sliced cucumbers--maybe add slices of fresh garden tomato--and top with another slice of bread.

INSTANT PICKLES
I usually feel like I'm making oh-so-many of these and then discover by the time the meal is on the table, they are already two-thirds gone, thanks to snitchers and big ones (my husband loves them too). I just peel and slice several cucumbers as for sandwiches. Put them in a bowl with salt, vinegar and water. Now you are going to ask: "How much of each?" Sigh. I never measure, just taste my way to success, so I don't know. It adds up to just barely enough liquid to cover. About half vinegar, half cold water, and maybe 1/2 t. salt. It is a salty dish. The salt pulls the bitterness out of the cucumbers. it needs to be made at least 15 minutes ahead of the meal to let the salt work. The longer ahead you make it, the less salt you should use. It won't keep; it gets too strong.

SOUR CREAM CUCUMBERS
Peel 3 cucumbers. Mix with 1/2 t. salt. While the cucumbers are being worked on by the salt, peel and slice 3 small-to-medium onions, and add. Make a dressing by beating together 1 c. sour cream, 1.5 T. vinegar, and 2 T. sugar or the equivalent in honey. Pour dressing over and serve.

YOGURT CUCUMBERS
Jan Franco, Hamden Ct. says cucumbers are also great in yogurt with a bit of dill weed and salt. She just slices them up and tosses them in the yogurt; there's no need to soak them with salt. Or season them with fresh mint leaves and coriander.

COOKED CUKES
Cukes can also be eaten cooked, as you might a summer squash, in soups and vegetable dishes. See summer squash recipes for more possibilities; you can often substitute cukes for zukes.

[Excerpted from Chapter 4: Garden Vegetables. Illustration copyright 1994 by Cindy Davis.]

Canning Cukes

In a pickle because you’ve got more cucumbers than hungry mouths to eat them? Ben Franklin said, “Hunger is the best pickle.” I’m not sure exactly what that means, but why not save some of those cukes for later? Carla Emery has two fabulous pickle recipes that are sure to satisfy any craving.

Garlic Dill Pickles

Season: Mid- to late summer

Yield: 6 to 7 pints

Store: Cool, dark pantry

4 pounds pickling cucumbers, about 4 inches long, scrubbed and cut in half lengthwise

14 cloves garlic, split in half (28 halves)

G cup pickling or other fine, noniodized salt

2I cups cider vinegar

3 cups water

14 heads fresh dill weed

28 peppercorns

Heat the garlic, salt, vinegar, and water to boiling. Remove the garlic and place 4 halves in each hot, sterilized jar (if the cucumbers fill only 6 jars, add the remaining halves to 4 of the jars). Pack the cucumbers into the jars and divide the dill and peppercorns evenly among them.

Pour the hot vinegar solution over the cucumbers, allowing H inch headspace. Adjust the lids. Follow water-bath canning instructions (page 34) and process for 10 minutes. Store for at least 6 weeks before serving.

Bread-and-Butter Pickles

Season: Mid- to late summer

Yield: 7 to 9 pints

Store: Cool, dark pantry

6 pounds pickling cucumbers, cut into J-inch slices

H cup pickling or other fine noniodized salt

Crushed ice

4 cups cider vinegar

4 cups sugar

2 teaspoons celery seed

1 tablespoon whole allspice

2 tablespoons mustard seed

Combine the cucumbers and salt in a mixing bowl and mix. Completely cover with the ice and let stand for 3 to 4 hours. Drain thoroughly, picking out any remaining unmelted ice.

Bring the vinegar, sugar, celery seed, allspice, and mustard seed to a boil in an 8-quart saucepan, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Simmer uncovered for 5 minutes. Add the cucumber slices to the vinegar syrup and return to a simmer; stir gently to make sure heat is evenly distributed throughout the mixture.

Carefully ladle the pickles into hot, sterilized jars, allowing H inch headspace. Follow water-bath canning instructions (page 34) and process for 10 minutes. Store for a least a month and then refrigerate before serving.

Variation: For traditional bread-and-butter pickles with onions, add 1 cup peeled and thinly sliced small white onions along with the cucumbers to the vinegar syrup and proceed with instructions.

And if you’re looking for more ideas for your garden veggies, check out the Fresh From the Garden Cookbook