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.]

Seasoning with Style

Since the anti-trans fat movement first reared its head in full force some five years ago, Americans in several regions across the country (including our very own King County, WA) have stood meekly by as restaurants and eateries stripped their menus of the heart-clogging culprit. Suggest a similar move for salt, however, and people are liable to rush at you wielding pitchforks and salt mills.

That’s what Assemblyman Felix Ortiz of Brooklyn discovered earlier this year when he proposed a measure to ban salt from all New York City restaurants. No sooner did he open his mouth than the streets and media were up in arms, questioning the validity of sodium studies and singing personal paeans to salt. Needless to say, the salt-free revolution will be a long time coming.

My attitude is that, while salt is indeed a wonderful thing, there seems to be little wisdom in tempting fate by drowning our food in the stuff, especially when there are so many fun and flavorful alternatives. Carla Emery offers up a smorgasbord of seasonings for our tasting pleasure, a number of which are listed below. Regardless of where you fall on the salt issue, you’ll have to agree that these mixtures are delightfully uncontroversial.

N.B.: For salt mixtures, use uniodized salt and dried ingredients. Crush and mix the mixture using a wooden spoon or mortar and pestle. Seasoning mixes should be stored in airtight containers in a dry, cool place—not over or beside your stove!

Low-Salt Herbed Salt

Combine ¼ c. salt, 2 t. dried basil, 1 t. dried tarragon, 1 t. dried chives, and ½ t. dried oregano. Get it all very fine and well mixed. Good on popcorn, etc.

Low-Salt Seasoning Salt

Combine ½ t. garlic powder, ½ t. dried lemon rind, ½ t. onion powder, 2 t. paprika, 6 T. salt, ½ t. dried thyme, 2 t. dry mustard, ½ t. curry powder, and ½ t. powdered cumin. Blend well. This is good with anything: veggies, meats, fish, or salad.

Bouquet Garni

This classic French herb mix is packed into little 4-inch packets of cheesecloth. Spread the cloth out flat. Measure into the middle of it 1 bay leaf, 1 t. marjoram, 1 T. parsley, 1 t. savory, and 1 t. thyme. Bring together the corners of the bag and tie them with a string so it looks like a miniature peddler’s bag. Good in soups and stews. You can vary it to taste, adding or subtracting herbs as you please.

Poultry Seasoning

For each 2 T. commercial poultry seasoning called for, substitute 1 t. sage, 1 t. marjoram, 1 t. thyme, and 1 T. dried parsley; or 1 t. each of sage, thyme, savory, and marjoram.

Best No-Salt Seasoning

Combine 1 T. garlic powder, 5 t. onion powder, 1 T. paprika, 1 T. thyme, ½ t. celery seed, 1 T. dry mustard, and ½ t. white pepper. Store tightly covered.

Dessert Spice Blend

Combine 2 t. powdered cinnamon, 2 t. ground nutmeg, 1 t. powdered ginger, ½ t. powdered allspice, and ½ t. powdered cloves. Optional are ½ t. mace, ½ t. ground coriander, and ½ t. ground cardamom. This blend is nicely balanced in flavor and is good for spice cakes, cookies, and pies.

Taco Seasoning

1) Combine ¾ c. chili powder, 9 T. paprika, 10 T. cumin, 6 T. onion powder, and 5 T. garlic powder. Or 2) Combine 1/3 c. chili powder, 4 T. cumin, 2 T. garlic powder, 1 T. onion powder, and 1 T. oregano. To either mixtures 1) or 2), add as much or as little crushed red pepper as you like. Then mix well, divide into serving-size packets such as small zip-top bags, and store.