Four Ways With Cucumbers

By MiNDFOOD

Four Ways With Cucumbers
Make the most of in-season cucumbers with these 4 simple recipes.

Make the most of this delicious in-season produce with our favourite Four Ways With Cucumbers.

 

Bloody Mary Gazpacho Soup

Serves 6

Roughly chop 1 small seedless cucumber, 2 acid-free tomatoes, 1 red beefsteak tomato,
1 red capsicum and 1 small red onion. Add to a food processor fitted with a blade attachment and pulse until coarsely chopped – but ensure you don’t over pulse. Transfer the chopped vegetables toalargebowl.Add11⁄2cups tomato juice, 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce, 2 tsp Tabasco sauce and 1⁄2 cup horseradish cream. Mix well to combine. Add 1⁄2 cup vodka. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Chill in the fridge for 2 hours or overnight. Spoon gazpacho into short glasses. Garnish with celery sticks and pickles.

 

Sweet Pickled Cucumbers

Slice 3 cucumbers, leaving the skins on. Slice 3 onions. Layer slices in a colander, sprinkle each layer with 50g salt. Place a plate over them, press down with a heavy weight. Leave for 3 hours. Pour off liquid. Place 570ml wine vinegar, 450g brown sugar, 1⁄2 tsp turmeric, 1⁄4 tsp ground cloves and 1 tbsp mustard seeds into a pan, stir over heat until sugar has dissolved. Add cucumber and onion, bring to the boil and simmer for 1 minute. Remove the pan from the heat, spoon cucumber and onion into sterilised jars. Boil vinegar mixture for 15 minutes, pour over vegetables in jars and seal. Store for a month before serving.

 

Cucumber & Crab Rice Paper Rolls

Makes 8

Soak 50g thin rice vermicelli in cold water for 10 minutes. Pick over 150g crabmeat to remove any shell. Combine 1 shredded carrot with 1 tsp sugar and 2 tsp fish sauce. Thinly slice 1 large cucumber. Prepare a flat basin of warm water. Immerse 1 sheet of round rice paper. Remove, spread out flat. Lay some cucumber slices over the bottom third of the rice paper. On cucumber, place 1 tbsp noodles, 1 tbsp carrot, some crab meat, a few bean sprouts and mint leaves. Roll up the paper into a cylinder, folding in both sides of the paper over the filling. Repeat with remaining ingredients and rice paper. Serve with dipping sauce.

 

Cucumber & Apple Salad

Serves 6

Wash 4 Lebanese cucumbers, then slice thinly and place in a sieve. Leave to drain for about 20 minutes. Core 1 green apple and slice thinly. Wash and trim 1 fennel bulb, removing the tough outer leaves and stem and reserving the fronds. Slice finely. Combine 3 tbsp lemon extra-virgin oliveoil, 2 tbsp tarragon vinegar,2 tbsp fresh dill (or 1 tsp dried dill), 1 tsp caraway seeds, 1 tsp sumac and mix well. Season to taste. Drizzle over the vegetables. Arrange salad on a platter with some torn pieces of buffalo mozzarella, sprinkle with toasted pine nuts. Garnish with fennel fronds. Place the salad in the fridge for an hour before serving.

 

Try some of our other favourite cucumber recipes:

11 Ways With Cucumber

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