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I learned long ago that, unless I wanted to be eating zucchini at ever meal for three months, it is best not to plant it at home. Besides, when they are in season they are so inexpensive that you can buy as many as you want for very little money - and if your neighbors decide to plant them, you'll probably have plenty of free ones anyway. But just because I don't plant zucchini doesn't mean that I don't have vegetable problems. While some people have problems with zucchini overrunning their gardens during the summer, I have a problem with cucumbers.
Over the past two days, I have accumulated roughly 30 pounds of cucumbers, both English and Japanese. Though I didn't try to pile them all into one photo, for reference, the cucumber in the center of this picture measures 11"x4" and weighs just over 2.5-pounds. And it's not the biggest that I have at the moment. The one in the fridge looks remarkably similar to a baseball bat.
I gave some away and used those I harvested last week to make massive batches of tzatziki and cucumber salad (my recipe below). I love tzatziki and salads, but I suspect that they might start to get a little boring over the next few weeks. Aside from making pickles, which I don't feel inclined to do because I don't want to go out and find lots of canning jars, what else can I do with them that will let me use a lot?
Nicole's Cucumber Salad
2 large cucumbers
1/4 - 1/2 medium red onion, thinly sliced
6 tbsp plain yogurt (Greek-style, if possible, or sour cream)
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 tsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp dried dill
Salt and pepper, to taste
Peel cucumbers, cut in half lengthwise and scrape out seeds with a spoon. Chop into half-moon shaped slices. Pat dry with paper towels to remove some excess moisture.
Toss cucumber in large bowl with onions (I use 1/2 onion), yogurt, vinegar, sugar and dill, then add salt and pepper generously to taste.
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7-07-2006 @12:09PM Jason said... If you like hot curry dishes, this is a good side-dish for that.
http://thefoodgeek.blogspot.com/2006/03/chickpea-salad.html#links
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7-07-2006 @12:12PM Elizabeth said... Give them to anyone who comes over to your house. Or anyone that you visit. Or anyone who passes your house. That's what my mom would do with our abundance of homegrown cucumbers. We would also eat them with every meal, sprinkled with salt and possibly a dash of vinegar.
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7-07-2006 @12:24PM Meg Fortino said... 1. Make cucumber and cheddar sandwiches: spread good whole wheat bread with mayo or butter; top with sliced cucumbers and cheddar cheese; put another piece of whole wheat bread on top. Yum.
2. Dice them and put them into every cold salad you make: macaroni salad, barley salad, pasta salad, tossed salad; bean salad.
3. I personally think cucumbers are icky when cooked, but you can saute them in butter, toss with a little fresh dill, and serve as a sauce for grilled salmon (or mackeral, or any oily fish).
4. Make refrigerator pickles: chunk the cucumbers into thick slices; toss with a bit of Vidalia onion cut into thin slices; toss with ice cubes (about 6 ice cubes per cucumber); pour white vinegar (or white-wine vinegar -- depends on your budget, I guess) over it to cover. Refrigerate until ready to use. (I usually make this as the first step in prepping dinner.)
5. Cut off the ends of a cucumber, then scoop out the seeds, leaving a large tube. Dry the inside well with paper towels. Make a mixture of cream cheese and whatever flavorings you like (I like garlic, lime zest, mint, salt and pepper), and stuff it into the tube, packing firmly. Wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate. At serving time, remove the plastic wrap and slice the stuffed cucumber. The more I think about it, it occurs to me you could make a salmon salad and stuff it in there too -- just make sure to use cream cheese because otherwise, the slices will leak when you cut them. Ugh.
6. Eat them as you do an apple -- out of hand.
I think I've run out of ideas for this 10-minute stretch ...
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7-07-2006 @12:49PM Joe said... You can make Cucumber (oi) kimchi. My favorite bahn chan:
Cucumber Kimchi
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7-07-2006 @12:53PM Joe said... Oops - forgot the recipe:
http://www.foodieheadquarters.com/recipe/37/Recipe.aspx
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7-07-2006 @3:52PM eun said... to the above:
are you kidding with that oi kimchi recipe? pickles+chili does not a kimchi make. i'm sure it tastes okay, your concoction but a real korean-style cucumber kimchi would require 10+ ingredients, the most important being some type of shrimp/seafood extract which allows for the all important FERMENTATION.
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7-07-2006 @4:53PM monica Jo Tomaszewski said... There is a watermelon-cuke cooler recipe in August's Bon Appetit.
Also, but rather off topic, there are tonnes of scrub and body treatment related uses for cukes, I would make stuff like that with the massive ones (which always tasted not quite right to me).
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7-07-2006 @5:36PM Nicole Weston said... Wow! Everyone has such great suggestions. And, to Meg, I didn't really know that you could make a "quick" pickle in the fridge like that it sounds so much simpler than the long-curing kind.
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7-07-2006 @9:47PM Freyja said... Agua Fresca! 3 peeled chunked cukes in the blender with about 1 1/2 cup of water, puree, strain the pulp out. Add about 4 cups of water (carbonated water is really nice too), 1/4 cup sugar, lime juice, few ice cubes and a straw.
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8-15-2006 @5:25PM Kimo said... Hi,
The recipe Joe indicated is close to what my Mom used to do for her kimchee, except she used chili flakes. Although a combo of chili flakes and chili powder would likely work well if you like your kimchee spicy.
Boy, after a few days, that stuff was just delicious.
Great way to use those pounds of extra cucumbers that are brimming over from your garden.
I track some gardening news here and saw something on zuchinis, but it may have rolled off by now.
http://www.greatmindsthinking.com/index.php/About.com-Gardening/10/
I would also thinly slice the cucumbers and use them in ANY of your sandwiches. Great for hot summer days.
K~
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