Two suggestions --
I call the first an Egyptian salad because I learned of it from an Egyptian friend (thanks Heni!): dice equal parts tomatoes (seeded) and cucumbers (seeded), half that amount red onion, and about one part crumbled feta cheese. Salt to taste (remember the feta is salty), and a splash of olive oil.. Let sit for an hour or so. Yea summer!
The other is from my mother and is a very midwest-style summer salad (you know it by the mayonnaise). A mandoline works great here... Thinly slice one onion. peel, seed and thinly slice 2-3 cucumbers. Mix a tablespoon or so of salt into the cucumbers. let them sit for an hour to pull out the water and then drain. rinse lightly, drain again. Make a dressing with mayo, vinegar, sugar (just a bit). It should be slightly sweet, tangy and thin rather than thick.
Add thinly sliced cucumber to ice water and a sprig of rosemary and you'll have an amazing summertime drink. Or some mint, club soda, gin and muddled cucumbers... Awesome! I might make one now. Oh wait it's only 9:30 am... Who care.
Slice the cucumbers and some onions very thin on a mandolin is perfect then dress with a light dressing of sour cream and rice vinegar. You can add what ever spices you like salt, pepper, basil etc. Perfect salad with a big rich steak to cut the fat of the meat.
Slice thickly and pack them into containers with miso, it's a nice quick pickle that I ate a lot of the year I planted lemon cucumbers. Plain miso paste also makes a nice dip for cucumber sticks. You can also add chunks to chilled miso soup (add chilled ramen noodles, some shiso and ground sesame seeds and you have a pretty nice light meal or snack on a hot day).
Also, cucumber is fantastic in stirfry. Seriously. Salt them to reduce the water content, rinse, then saute them with spicy soy sauce based flavorings added at the end. I'm sure there are tons of recipes online, I just kind of do it by instinct though.
Thing is, this year I'm mostly just chopping them up and adding them to chicken and goat yogurt with some lemon, garlic, oregano and a ton of olive oil. Would probably make just as nice a salad without the yogurt and a little more lemon.
We love to make an Asian-inspired chicken salad that involves thinly sliced cucumbers, poached chicken, cashews, celery, and a simple vinaigrette with sesame oil and rice vinegar.
Gazpacho, Greek salad: cucs, tomato, feta. Or, soak them in a little Vietnamese sauce of ginger, sugar, red chile, chopped garlic, water, lime juice, & fish sauce -- super yummy little condiment, that last one.
15 Comments
I call the first an Egyptian salad because I learned of it from an Egyptian friend (thanks Heni!): dice equal parts tomatoes (seeded) and cucumbers (seeded), half that amount red onion, and about one part crumbled feta cheese. Salt to taste (remember the feta is salty), and a splash of olive oil.. Let sit for an hour or so. Yea summer!
The other is from my mother and is a very midwest-style summer salad (you know it by the mayonnaise). A mandoline works great here... Thinly slice one onion. peel, seed and thinly slice 2-3 cucumbers. Mix a tablespoon or so of salt into the cucumbers. let them sit for an hour to pull out the water and then drain. rinse lightly, drain again. Make a dressing with mayo, vinegar, sugar (just a bit). It should be slightly sweet, tangy and thin rather than thick.
cucumbers are great in tabbouleh.
Also, cucumber is fantastic in stirfry. Seriously. Salt them to reduce the water content, rinse, then saute them with spicy soy sauce based flavorings added at the end. I'm sure there are tons of recipes online, I just kind of do it by instinct though.
Thing is, this year I'm mostly just chopping them up and adding them to chicken and goat yogurt with some lemon, garlic, oregano and a ton of olive oil. Would probably make just as nice a salad without the yogurt and a little more lemon.
easy and delicious.
love this. Refreshing.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/20/AR2007022000327.html
Cucs, lime juice, mint, watermelon and feta. Delicious!
They're best with smaller cucumbers. If I'm making large batch, I use a cookie jar as the 'crock' in the 'fridge.