Cucumbers are arriving — here are two of our favorites recipes!
Recipes provided by Raleigh City Farm Board Member Miranda Miller
As cucumbers are arriving on the farm, we thought we’d share two favorite cucumber recipes!
Cucumber Salad
Ingredients:
1 English cucumber or 2 or 3 regular sized cucumbers (preferably younger with small seeds)
1-2 tbsp. rice wine vinegar
⅛ to ¼ tsp. sugar
Salt to taste (kosher salt is preferable)
Red pepper flakes to taste.
¼ cup chopped cilantro
Directions:
In a small bowl mix rice wine vinegar with sugar until sugar is dissolved.
Thinly slice cucumber rounds (a mandoline is perfect for this job!) in a bowl.
Salt sliced cucumber rounds to taste and toss to evenly distribute salt. Let sit for 15 minutes. Taste and if too salty, drain some of the accumulated water.
Add rice wine vinegar mixture to cucumbers and toss.
Add red pepper flakes and toss.
Let sit for at least half hour.
Add chopped cilantro and serve.
Cacık
Turkish cold cucumber soup
This traditional cold Turkish soup is similar to Greek tzatziki, but is thinned down with ice cold water to the consistency of a cold summer soup. It’s very refreshing on a hot summer day and an easy way to use all those cucumbers that seem to ripen at once! Although the recipe calls for the removal of the seeds in the cucumbers, if your cucumbers are young with very small seeds or if you use the long English style cucumbers, you can omit this step. I typically dry a ton of mint* (which grows profusely in this area) early in the summer so I have plenty of mint for this soup throughout the summer.
Ingredients
1 pint plain yogurt (whole milk is preferable—Greek style is OK, but you may need more water)
1 ½ to 2 tbsp. Olive Oil
1 ½ to 2 tbsp. Red Wine Vinegar
1 or 2 cloves garlic, crushed in a garlic press or finely minced
2 tbsp. dried crushed mint
1 English style cucumber or 2 or 3 regular sized cucumbers (with seeds cut out) finely chopped in quarter inch squares
1 tsp. salt
¾- 1 cup ice cold water
Directions:
In a bowl gently mix yogurt, olive oil, red wine vinegar, crushed garlic, mint. ½ tsp salt and ½ cup water with a wire whip until mixed. Taste for salt, vinegar and olive oil and add more iced water if the consistency is too thick.
Mix in chopped cucumbers
Cool in refrigerator for at least one hour and preferably overnight (the flavor is better the next day).
*To dry mint (or most other herbs), cut long stems of mint and wash with water. Shake off excess water and pat gently with towel to absorb extra water. If you have a food dehydrator, dry mint according to manufacturer’s instructions. If you want dry the old fashioned way, gather stems together and tie ends together with a rubber band or string. Hang in a cool, dry and dark place (I hang in my pantry). It usually takes a few weeks for the mint to dry completely. After the mint is completely dried, I gently remove leaves from the stem and store in a baggie or jar. I try not to crush the leaves until I am ready to use as this helps preserves the fragrant oils in the mint. To crush leaves, just rub leaves in your palms over a cookie sheet or large plate and remove any larger stems.