Virtual CSA Box: Cucumbers

Cool as a cucumber - how do you stay that cool in the hot stretch of August? Hopefully you have a cucumber or two in your CSA box this cucumber season. Cucumbers grow in the middle of the summer, from June to August, and "cucumber season" has come to mean the time when little seems to happen and newspapers don't have much to write about.

We love paper-transparent slices of cucumbers, chilled and lightly salted. We could eat them all summer long. Here are a few more ideas for cooling off with cucumber...

From salads to bases for dips, there are some good ideas for using cucumbers at this article in Sunset.

Another favorite way to use up cucumbers is in pachadi or raita, yogurt-based dips from Pakistan and India. Here is a good recipe for pachadi and another for raita. These are also similar to the Greek Tzatziki.

Also try Abby's Cucumber Vanilla Ice Cream from last summer's ice cream contest. Also try these Cucumber Lemonade Spritzers.

What's your favorite way to eat cucumbers?

Comments (14)

I just got 3 huge cucumbers from the garden behind my office building and plan on making a curried-cucumber buttermilk soup. I've made it several times and it's absolutely delicious!

http://vegetariantimes.com/recipes/8722?section=

We aren't that wild about cucumbers, so when we found ourselves in possession of several pounds, we turned them into bread-and-butter pickles. They're very yummy!

Chilled cucumber soup, how do you say, YUM!

Quick icebox pickles with turmeric,

Cucumber and yogurt sauce for grilled lamb kebabs,

Cucumber gazpacho,

Chunks of cold cucumber with lime, salt and chili

We've got a favorite dish at our regular Chinese restaurant called "Chicken with cucumber and black fungus." Cooking cucumber transforms it's flavor and texture and takes the palate into new territory. The cucumber becomes softer yet remains toothsome and it's essence permeates the entire dish giving it a perfumy flavor.

I recently posted a family friend's quick pickle technique--just put sliced cucumbers (peeled) in a bowl of rice vinegar and black pepper. After about half an hour they're ready to go, though they can be a bit sharp to eat straight. I want to try again with some water to cut the vinegar--my mom always made them straight, though, and they were great.

Ursula is gnawing on her very first cucumber as we speak (from our family garden, lucky girl!) and I'm having some chopped over brown rice, black beans and sun gold tomatoes (garden as well) with a dash of olive oil and sea salt. So good.

I've been making Asian cucumber salads all summer. Mix a clove or two of crushed garlic, minced ginger with soy sauce. Stir in chopped thick strips of cucumbers (like carrot sticks) and top with sesame oil and red pepper flakes. This tastes better after letting it sit room temp for 30 min but eat it up while it's still crunchy-- it gets somewaht soggy the next day!

I always throw a slice of cucumber in my Hendrick's gin and tonic. Other than that, I'm such a sucker for ingredient-eating that I usually just slice them and eat them raw, little salt, little rice vinegar.

oh, PS- you can mix vinegar to the salad too. All based on your personal taste pref.

Nora, sub vodka for gin and I'm right there with you.

Cool cuke soup also goes well with the zing of summer bbq wings . We're currently featuring one over on Gracious Bowl.

http://www.graciousbowl.com/2007/07/cool-as-cucumber-soup.html

Oooh.. and cucumber cilantro sorbet sounds like a good idea too!

Well then, Tamarack, bottom's up!

My mom used to make vinegar cucumbers too, but with a hit of sugar instead of salt... they were very strong after a while, so i recommend eating them in the first few days. They're great on a salad or with some summer tomatoes!

i use a mandoline and julienne a cucumber and a zucchini. mix in with soba noodles and dress with the premade soba sauce (a little msg doesn't hurt anyone). so quick, easy and healthy.