In our first garden in Ashland I planted too many cucumbers. I think I planted five plants and we couldn't give them away fast enough. Cucumbers fresh from the garden are delicious, but one can only eat so many of them before they start to go bad on the counter. Cucumbers are also one of those veggies that don't go in many recipes. Last summer I scaled back and got just the right number of cucumbers for snacking. In my post-pregnancy, sleep-deprived state, I over planted cucumbers this summer.
What to do with all these cucumbers? Snacking and salads for sure, certainly giving them away. I'm also experimenting with salsas. Here are a few of the cucumber salsa recipes I have made this summer, all of which are delicious (and all of which are estimates to taste).
Cucumber and Tomato Salsa
3 cucumbers finely sliced - seed the really seedy ones
3 tomatoes finely sliced- seed the really seedy ones
1/3-1/2 red onion
Cilantro to taste
Lime Juice to taste
Salt to taste
Cucumber and Mango Salsa
Same as the above recipe, just change out the three tomatoes for 2 mangos
Cucumber, Corn, and Tomato Salsa from Penzey's Spice Catalogue
3 large ears of corn
1 large onion chopped (I used half a red onion)
2 peppers of your choice (bell peppers or hot peppers, chopped - I used 1 jalepeno)
1 garden tomato, chopped
1/3-1/2 c lime juice
3/4 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp cinnamon (I left this out - seemed weird)
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 small cucumber, chopped (optional - but not in my case!)
1 15 oz an black beans drained and rinsed (I didn't use this but think it would be good!)
I also added a pinch of salt, took out the seeds of the tomato and the cucumber.
I also made some delicious fridge pickles using a recipe I found online. I used dill, a clove of garlic, and some cumin seeds for flavoring. The hardest part was waiting a week to try them.
Here is a photo of our garden, with the delicata squash taking over. I apologize for the shadow, all you really miss are the basil plants and the carrots that didn't really take. Nick shakes his head every time he walks past the garden and sees the 18 tomato plants I planted. Again, I blame my sleep deprived state.
Here is one day's worth of cucumbers.
What to do with all these cucumbers? Snacking and salads for sure, certainly giving them away. I'm also experimenting with salsas. Here are a few of the cucumber salsa recipes I have made this summer, all of which are delicious (and all of which are estimates to taste).
Cucumber and Tomato Salsa
3 cucumbers finely sliced - seed the really seedy ones
3 tomatoes finely sliced- seed the really seedy ones
1/3-1/2 red onion
Cilantro to taste
Lime Juice to taste
Salt to taste
Cucumber and Mango Salsa
Same as the above recipe, just change out the three tomatoes for 2 mangos
Cucumber, Corn, and Tomato Salsa from Penzey's Spice Catalogue
3 large ears of corn
1 large onion chopped (I used half a red onion)
2 peppers of your choice (bell peppers or hot peppers, chopped - I used 1 jalepeno)
1 garden tomato, chopped
1/3-1/2 c lime juice
3/4 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp cinnamon (I left this out - seemed weird)
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 small cucumber, chopped (optional - but not in my case!)
1 15 oz an black beans drained and rinsed (I didn't use this but think it would be good!)
I also added a pinch of salt, took out the seeds of the tomato and the cucumber.
Cucumber, Corn, Tomato Salsa (tomato is also from our garden)
I also made some delicious fridge pickles using a recipe I found online. I used dill, a clove of garlic, and some cumin seeds for flavoring. The hardest part was waiting a week to try them.
Here is a photo of our garden, with the delicata squash taking over. I apologize for the shadow, all you really miss are the basil plants and the carrots that didn't really take. Nick shakes his head every time he walks past the garden and sees the 18 tomato plants I planted. Again, I blame my sleep deprived state.
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