Cucumb
13 recipes found
Grilled Skirt Steak With Smoky Cucumber Chimichurri
With just a few simple seasonings (salt, pepper and oregano), quick-cooking skirt steak needs only the light smoke of a grill to amplify its beefy flavor. For this vibrant chimichurri, cucumbers are charred on the grill, too, resulting in a smoky, tangy and herbaceous sauce that cuts through the rich beef. Enjoy leftovers as stuffed pita sandwiches the next day: Mix the cucumber chimichurri with some plain Greek yogurt and dollop into pitas, then top with the sliced steak and any fresh salad options you might have around, like chopped lettuce and tomatoes.
Spicy Gazpacho
This bright and vegetal gazpacho is a cooling summertime soup or even a refreshing drink, straight from a glass. Red Fresno chile imparts lively heat (remove some or all of the seeds for a milder soup) along with nice fruity notes that complement the other veggies. Olive oil is simply whisked in at the end to ensure a velvety texture that eats silkier than fully blended gazpacho, which is more aerated and frothy. This gazpacho is best served cold, so make it a few hours ahead and keep chilled, or try this speedy solution: Serve it over ice.
Chicken, Cucumber and Nectarine Salad
This light yet satisfying summery salad is meant to be flexible and adaptable, the kind of easy weekday recipe that helps you turn the odds and ends in your fridge into a quick and healthy meal. Consider swapping in torn mozzarella or goat cheese for the feta, using basil instead of mint, or using any roasted nuts you’ve got on hand. If you can’t find a ripe nectarine, a peach, a plum or a handful of juicy berries would work great, too. The key is to keep the ingredients fresh and bright, and to dress the salad just before eating it so everything stays crisp. Serve with a cold glass of white wine and a nice hunk of bread on the side.
Cucumber-Tomato Salad With Sesame Whipped Tofu
Silken tofu can be an incredible creamy base for sauces, dips and even soups. It’s packed with protein and is a great way to enhance a simple light salad. The neutral flavor of silken tofu makes it a flexible blank canvas to highlight strong flavors like toasted sesame oil. Here, whipped tofu is a pedestal for simple peak summer tomatoes and cucumbers that are roughly chopped and salted. The simplicity of this salad means that everything needs to be well seasoned. Serve the salad with some crusty sourdough bread, creating a DIY tomato toast situation.
Sticky Rice Cakes With Sausage and Greens
Tteok, cylindrical or oval Korean rice cakes, are simple to prepare in this dish that’s playful, filling and kid-friendly. They’re enrobed in a sweet and salty tomato sauce made with ketchup, which is usually used as a condiment but is great as an ingredient for cooking. Ketchup lends a tart counterpoint to seared sausage and, at least for wee ones, it offers a recognizable zing. With a handful of chopped bok choy, a cucumber side salad and a confetti of scallions, this dish promises to please adults and kids alike.
Tomato and Cucumber Salad
This adaptation of a Madhur Jaffrey recipe is lovely in its simplicity. Yellow or gold cherry tomatoes are especially summery here, but any color of tomato will work — as will large ones, sliced or wedged if you wish. But try, if you can, to find the curry leaves at an Indian grocery. They add a subtle fragrance.
Tajín Mango Cucumber Salad
Vibrant, refreshing, juicy and crisp, this salad is perfect for warmer days or any day when you need just a little pick-me-up. Coming together quickly, the combination of mango, cucumber and romaine is simply dressed with fresh lime and cilantro. Tajín, a popular Mexican seasoning made with chiles, lime and salt, adds a tangy and mildly spicy flavor, contrasting nicely with the sweetness of mango.
Tangy Tzatziki
Inspired by the tzatziki served at Sto Kastro, a Greek restaurant in Germersheim, Germany, this thicker, fluffier iteration of the sauce lets the pairing of cucumber and yogurt shine. The main technique here is to really squeeze the liquid out of both the cucumbers and the yogurt, which results in tzatziki that’s both creamy and almost fluffy. A second trick, from the cookbook author Suzy Karadsheh, is to use distilled white vinegar instead of lemon juice. The vinegar’s straightforward acidity delivers the best of the cucumber and yogurt. This cool, creamy mix tastes fantastic when spread on warm pita bread and crackers or used as a dip for chips and fresh crunchy vegetables.
Ginger-Lime Cucumber Salad
Cooling, refreshing and supremely easy to make, this cucumber salad spotlights spicy ginger, bright lime juice and a blend of fresh herbs to emphasize its green color and flavor. The most essential ingredient, an often-overlooked component in the cucumber universe, is patience. Marinating cucumbers, even if only for 10 minutes, allows new and distinct flavors the opportunity to penetrate the juicy flesh, resulting in a more savory outcome. Make this salad a couple of hours before serving, or even the night before, to allow the dressing its most optimal influence. Spoon this salad over freshly toasted, crusty bread, with or without a few slices of gravlax, along with the juices that inevitably pool at the bottom of the salad bowl.
Satay-Style Grilled Chicken Thighs
A familiar sight on many Thai menus in the U.S., chicken satay typically involves grilled skewers of marinated chicken, charred and stained with spices, and served with peanut sauce and perhaps a cucumber relish on the side. This recipe gives the dish a one-plate remix by bringing all the same flavors together, in slightly different proportions, and placing them atop rice. Because of its sugar and fat content, the coconut milk in the chicken marinade chars up beautifully on the grill, while the chile in the cucumber relish — served as an abundant garnish here — balances out the sweetness of the dressing. Replacing the traditional peanut sauce, chopped peanuts add pops of crunch. Get ahead by putting together the salad and marinade the day before and storing them in the fridge until you’re ready to make the chicken.
Heirloom & Nectarine Gazpacho with Cheesy Flatbreads
Stone fruit complements the tomatoes' sweetness in this gorgeous gazpacho, and a cheesy flatbread makes it complete. Think grilled cheese and tomato soup, but for warm days.
Fennel and Cucumber Salad
Cucumber and Radish Raita
This can be spicy or not, depending on what you are serving it with and your taste for heat. Cucumber raita (without the radishes) is a classic accompaniment to curries, but I like it on its own and spooned over grains. It’s also very nice with salmon.