Summer is officially cucumber season. I am thankful you can buy cucumbers year-round. Cucumbers are plentiful, healthful, and perfect to eat. Enjoy three Cucumber Recipes.
Cucumber Nutrition/Health
Cucumbers are better for you than you think. They refresh, hydrate, and provide you with water and fiber. If you have a headache, eat a cucumber. In the summer, when I have them growing in my garden, I eat one every day as an after-work snack. The cucumbers provide me with energy and hydration.
Cucumbers are low in calories and contain vitamins K and C, Potassium, and magnesium. They contain antioxidants and phytochemicals, which are beneficial to good health. An average cucumber is around 45 calories and contains a lot of water.
Grow Your Cucumbers
Find a sunny area in your garden or near a trellis, plant some seeds, and watch your cucumbers grow. Choose the variety you will eat. There are Pickle varieties and mellower muncher types. The pickle type has a more bitter-tasting peel if you plan to snack on them.
Cucumbers grow fast and furious for two months. You may be giving them away or eating them every day. This is a link to grow your cucumbers. Cucumbers: How to Plant, Grow, and Harvest Cucumbers | The Old Farmer’s Almanac
If you can’t grow your own, buy some at the farmers’ market or purchase the Persian cucumbers from the store. Sometimes we cut the cucumbers up and munch on them, or I include them in salads.
Cucumber Recipes
Cucumber Tomato Salad/Israeli Salad-
This is our favorite way to eat cucumbers. We add this salad to bowls, salads, and pita sandwiches. Here is the link- I have posted this recipe on multiple blogs.
Refrigerator Pickled Cucumber Recipe
These are easy to make and can be stored in the refrigerator for a month. They are not too sweet and taste so good.
- About 6 cups of thinly sliced cucumbers
- 1 cup thinly sliced onion
- 1 ½ cups vinegar
- ¼ cup sugar and ¼ cup honey
- ½ tsp mustard seeds
- ½ tsp turmeric
- ½ tsp crushed red pepper
- 1/8 tsp black pepper- ground
- 3 tsp minced garlic or 3 cloves thinly sliced
Place cucumbers and onions in a bowl. Combine vinegar, sugars, spices, and garlic in a saucepan and bring to a boil for 1 minute. Pour over the bowl of onions and cucumbers. Cool and Chill in the refrigerator, and they will be ready in 3 days.
Spring Rolls Recipe
I enjoy eating these as an alternative to a sandwich on a hot day. Make these as a side dish or for a large snack. Spring Rolls are filled with fresh vegetables. Add your choice of smoked salmon or shrimp pieces for protein.
- 1 pkg round sheets of rice paper ( May not use them all)
- 1 cup Kale, lettuce, or spinach
- ½ cup shredded carrots
- 1 cup thinly sliced cucumbers
- 1 avocado, thinly sliced
- ¼ cup green sliced onions, or pickled red onions
- 1/2 red pepper, thinly sliced
- 1 cup smoked salmon, shrimp, or tuna
Follow the instructions on the rice paper package to wet and roll the paper. Add each of the above in small handfuls and roll up the spring rolls per package instructions.
Dipping Sauce for Spring Rolls
- 2 tbsp rice vinegar
- 2 tbsp lime juice
- ¼ tsp crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 tbsp peanut butter- use another nut butter or eliminate if desired.
- 1 tsp low-sodium soy sauce.
Mix ingredients and serve with the spring rolls.
What Cucumber Recipes are your favorites?
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