Recipes using cucumbers are a summertime favourite since they're so refreshing. And with good reason—cucumber recipes are particularly refreshing when the weather becomes hot because the vegetable is about 95% water.
Cucumbers commonly take front stage in many salad recipes due to their quench factor. However, this does not imply that cucumbers are useless in other contexts. The crisp, refreshing, and incredibly hydrating vegetable is actually far more useful than is often thought.
Its mild flavour goes well with a wide range of dishes, both savoury and sweet. Additionally, because of its high water content, it goes well with mixed drinks and infused waters. This water-rich vegetable is delicious when combined into sweet smoothies, frozen into refreshing cold desserts, pickled with vinegar for a crunchy treat, or just chopped raw for an easy and quick sandwich topper. Try these recipes for midnight dinners!
9 Cucumber Dishes To Try
1. Dill Pickles
Making pickles with fermentation is simple. Combine the dill, garlic, peppercorns, and chilies to make a brine. Cut a small pickling cucumber, such as Kirby pickles. Pour the brine over the pickles in a canning jar. Store in the fridge for up to a month. In one day, the pickles will be ready to consume, but if you want them extra tart and sour, you might want to wait a few more days.
2. Smashed Cucumber Salad
When cutting English or Chinese cucumbers into pieces, smack them with the flat side of a cleaver, large knife, or rolling pin to break up the fibres and allow the pieces to absorb more sauce. Toss the cucumber with a flavorful sauce made with Chinkiang vinegar and crispy chilies.
3. Cucumber Nimbu Soda
This is a Northern Indian drink made of cucumber, salt, and lime. This cool beverage is made and consumed by the people during the summer heat. Combine muddled cucumber, soda water, lime juice, simple syrup, and salt with ice. Making a big batch of the base and topping each glass with ice and soda water as needed allows you to batch make the soda as well.
4. Stone Fruit, Tomato And Cucumber Salad
This salad is perfect for summer, with peaches, plums, and cherries paired with crispy cucumbers, celery, and cherry tomatoes. This is a basic dressing of olive oil and apple cider vinegar with a hint of spice from the serrano pepper. Want to go for a more opulent look. Add a dollop of burrata or creamy mozzarella to each serving.
5. Cold Cucumber Soup
Ten minutes to make homemade soup without any cooking? That's the allure of this delectable, cool cucumber soup. Toss in the cucumbers, onion, buttermilk, sour cream, dill, rice vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper, then blend until smooth and serve! An ideal starter for a hot summer night's dinner.
6. Gazpacho
Gazpacho is a lifesaver when it's too hot to cook and you need to use up a bunch of veggies from the garden. Blend tomatoes, vinegar, olive oil, and lemon together with red onion, cucumber, bell pepper, celery, and chopped fresh herbs. For a little kick, add a little Worcestershire and Tabasco. To enable the flavours to mingle, it's best to make this a few hours ahead of time.
7. Cucumber Sandwich
The flavour of this simple vegetarian cucumber sandwich is influenced by the Mexican street corn meal called elote. One can use cotija cheese, lime and cilantro to flavour cucumber slices instead of maize to create a delicious filling. Feta cheese can be substituted with cotija cheese, a salty, crumbly Mexican cheese with a flavour and texture comparable to both. Add some peppery flavour with the rocket, but any soft green will do nicely in this recipe.
8. 3-Ingredient Cucumber Wrap
With just three ingredients, this cucumber Boursin wrap may easily be made for supper. The spreadable cheese from Boursin is tasty and practical—it keeps the chopped cucumber in place while you roll up the wrap. This is a really simple sandwich that you can pack for late-night hunger pangs or slice and eat straight away. Pat the diced cucumber with a paper towel to absorb any extra moisture if storing it for later.
9. Pineapple & Cucumber Salad
To balance out the richness and awaken the senses, try this sweet and light salad with grilled fish or meat. Adding jalapeño can give you the kick you're looking for if you want a little heat. Although pre-cut pineapple comes in packs, the cost is nearly always higher. It is preferable to get fresh pineapple and cut it yourself while it is in season. A pineapple's exterior should be golden-yellow, as this is a reliable sign of ripeness.
Benefit from the crunchy texture of the vegetable by incorporating it into dishes like sushi bowls, spring rolls, and fast pickles, among many more ideas that will inspire you to try new and creative uses for it.