This month's round up looks different, again! I have created 4 recipes using cucumbers.
We bought two bags of local cucumbers while travelling through a farm town in the Central Province of Zambia. We had tons of produce from that stop and forgot about the cucumbers until about 2 weeks later. Thankfully most of them were still fine, so I had about 20 cucumbers to use up, and it had to be soon because of course most of them were on their way out! Here are four of the recipes I made with the cucumbers and more ideas at the end of other ways to use cucumbers and freeze any extra.
Feta watermelon cucumber salad: light, summer, healthy, vegetarian cuisine.
I don't think I had made a feta and watermelon salad before but now I understand the craze. This flavor combination was amazing! I added in a lot of both salty, sweet and fresh and it worked well. I wish I had fresh basil (or mint) to use, but instead I used dried dill. It still tasted amazing but I'm definitely adding fresh herbs to the recipe.
Single Serving Salad
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups chopped watermelon
Half circle of feta, crumbled
1/2 cucumber, peeled and sliced
1/4 cup blueberries
1/4 cup red onion, thinly sliced
Squeeze of lime
Pinch of salt
Fresh basil
Method:
Mix all ingredients together!
Notes:
Remove the feta to make it both vegan, raw vegan, whole30 and paleo.
Spicy and fresh cucumber fritters: Paleo, gluten free, dairy free, healthy breakfast option.
This recipe was inspired by another Cooking with Abs recipe, the zucchini fritters from bodybyfinch.com. These are just as tasty, but spicer and a little fresher! I also made these fully gluten free and paleo. The almond flour gives it a grainy texture and nutty taste.
Makes about 8 fritters
Ingredients:
1 cup almond flour
2 large cucumbers, grated and liquid drained
3 eggs
1 clove garlic, crushed
Handful cilantro, chopped finely
1 jalapeño, chopped finely (optional/to taste)
Salt and pepper, to taste
Method:
Combine the cucumber, garlic, jalapeño/chili pepper, cilantro, eggs, salt, pepper and almond flour, except about 1 tablespoon. Reserve the 1 tablespoon on almond flour for when cucumber leaks more liquid making the batter too runny.
Heat a frying pan with oil over medium heat. Spoon about 2 tablespoons of the batter to form the fritter, cook for about 3 minutes until golden brown and then flip and finish cooking on the other side.
Serve sweet with butter and maple syrup or savory with a fried egg and hot sauce and/or with a herb yogurt topping.
Notes:
If using regular flour, follow the same amounts with just 2 eggs.
Salt liberally, about 1 tablespoon or more.
Mediterranean flat bread pizza: vegetarian, light cuisine, option to make it gluten free.
This was my favorite of all the cucumber recipes! It is really simple, and once the dough is ready, it takes about 7 minutes to make! I personally love the grilled way, but oven baking works just as well.
Single Serving flatbread pizza
Use dough of choice. Pizza dough or tortilla or pita/flat bread all work well.
Toppings:
1 clove garlic
1/2 tablespoon oil or butter
1 tablespoon tahini
Thinly sliced red onions
Kalamata or green olives
Cucumber slices, halved
Tomato slices or diced
Method:
Roll out dough into circle or desired shape.
Cook on one side in a frying pan or on a grill (no oil needed in a pan, recommended for the grill). Flip once golden brown.
As the second side is cooking, add the oil/butter, garlic and tahini as the sauce.
Top with feta and soft cheese and then add the toppings.
Remove from heat once the second side is also golden brown and the dough fully cooked through.
Drizzle olive oil, seasonings and fresh herbs, cut into quarters for serving.
Notes:
Make or buy dough ahead of time and store in fridge or freezer to make this a quick snack or meal.
BBQ pasta salad: leftover and comfort food style side dish or light main dish.
I wouldn't recommend putting this together from scratch, but when your fridge is full of leftovers from a summer bbq / braii, this is where it's at! The leftover pasta I was using already had cooked carrots and peas mixed in, otherwise I would leave them out.
Ingredients:
cooked macaroni
cooked shredded bbq chicken
vinegar and oil
1 tablespoon of mayo or creamy honey mustard dressing
1 tablespoon dried italian seasonings
Fresh cilantro
Minced garlic
Red onion
Green and red bell pepper
Salt, pepper, chili flakes
Method:
Just mix everything together!
Notes:
This is a perfect day after a big bbq/braii dish or side dish to make at the braii once some of the chicken is ready.
I like to put it all in a container and shake it up and then serve and store from the same container. If bringing to another bbq/braii it's all ready to carry.
More cucumber ideas:
Greek salad
Cucumber infused water
Cucumber cocktails
Homemade Pickles
Cucumber pico de gallo
Cucumber avocado toast
Cucumber and salmon poke bowl
Topping for burgers, sandwiches, salads and other meals
Cucumber storage:
I knew I wouldn't be able to use all of the cucumbers while they were still fresh so I decided to grate and store in reusable bags in the freezer. Before freezing them, I removed as much liquid (saved for infused water and cocktails) and froze them in recipe friendly portions.
Have you ever had an abundance of cucumbers? What did you do or what else would you add to this list? Leave a comment!
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