VegBox Recipes
Cucumber
Cucumbers don't usually require any special treatment. However, they do lose water once cut. So if you're serving them with a sauce or dressing and plan to store the dish for a while before serving, your sauce / dressing could get very runny.
- In Season?
- July to October
- Buy?
- Look for firm and vibrantly green cucumbers, and check there are no mushy spots. Buy whole, not halves, with firm, plump skin.
- Store?
- Up to one week, in the salad compartment of the fridge – we suggest wrapping them in a paper bag, rather than leaving them uncovered
- Freeze?
- Never! “Cukes” are 90% water … it would be a cucumber ice lolly at the other end…
- Cook?
- Rarely would anyone think to cook a cucumber, although it has been known … have a look at the “What to do with…” section
More Cucumber Information
Cucumbers have been cultivated for over 3000 years. Despite the fact that cucumbers are over 90% water, my Grannie was allergic to them!Something in the skin brought her out in a rash. It could have been the chemical cucubitacin, which is also said to be responsible for the bitterness in the skin.
Cucumbers don't usually require any special treatment. However, they do lose water once cut. So if you're serving them with a sauce or dressing and plan to store the dish for a while before serving, your sauce / dressing could get very runny.
One solution is to draw out the water from a cucumber , before adding the sauce. The chemical cucubitacin is thought to be responsible for the bitterness in the skin, and another infamous cucumber obstacle is their "burping potential". Lots of people find they get "burpy" after eating cucumber. But the good news is that there are now "burpless" varieties out there!
What To Do With Cucumber
If you're going to make a recipe like Tsatsiki - which needs to marinade - the dressing will get very watery, unless you draw out the excess liquid first:
Drawing Out The Water
Cut the cucumber as required by the recipe, e.g. diced, sliced, grated.
Put the cucumber into a colander or sieve and sprinkle it with salt.
Put a bowl / dish / plate on top of the cucumber and weigh it down, so it pushes the cucumber towards the holes in the sieve / colander.
(Note: cans of food are useful for this)
Leave for about half an hour.
You might want to stir the cucumber part way through, to get out more liquid.
Continue with your recipe, after washing off the salt and squeezing, to drain the water.
Hot Cucumbers!
If you are ready to experiment with using cucumber in hot meals, try dipping cucumber slices in batter and frying them, or stuffing and baking them! One idea for using cucumbers alongside a hot dish is to mix shredded cucumber with dill and low fat sour cream to go with wild salmon.
Little Known Cucumber Facts
- Cucumbers have been cultivated since around 8,000BC, making them one of the oldest vegetables to be deliberately cultivated.
- We have read that the outside of a cucumber can be up to 20ºF warmer than the inside! Perhaps that’s where the expression comes from – as cool as a cucumber…
- We recently did a blog on cucumbers making you burp. The general consensus was that they do – for many people. You can get a variety called “Japanese Burpless” (bumpy skin) which helps a bit. But if that’s not available, why not visit the blog and see what others were advising!
| Cucumber And Feta Salad |
|---|
 A simple and delicious recipe for cucumbers. The combination of flavours brigtens up a summer lunch. |
| Ingredients Serves 4 2 cucumbers (medium or large) 100g Feta cheese 100g black olives, pitted (stones removed) 1 tablespoon fresh mint leaves, chopped 1 tablespoon natural yoghurt 50g sunflower seeds, toasted (optional) |
Method
|
| Cupboard-To-Table 10 mins |
Suggested Cucumber Recipes
- Cucumber And Feta Salad
A simple and delicious recipe for cucumbers. The combination of flavours brigtens up a summer lunch.
- Salad Soup from Fiji
This recipe was sent in to us by Sue C in Fiji. Sue says:
"'Salad Soup' might sound silly - but think 'Gazpacho'! I dreamed this up when I was put on a mostly soup diet for a while and really wanted to make the most of salad ingredients as well as mixed veggie soup.
Amounts are not given - that depends on which flavour you want to dominate - or none at all. I use plenty of onion, garlic and coriander; and prefer it quite thick. 2 tins of tomatoes make a good start, with water added to about half the depth of the veggies - they cook down, of course. A big batch freezes well in single serving containers."
- Tsatsiki
Tsatsiki is delicious when prepared with fresh ingredients - and it's an easy organic recipe. Once you've experience the flavours of home-made tsatsiki, we suspect you'll never want to go back to the supermarket version.
Got one? Send us your recipe!
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