Recipes

They're one of those vegetables that really have no significant nutritive value. Right up there with iceberg lettuce. Thanks to my Simply In Season cookbook I know that the only nutrient in cucumbers is Vitamin K. What a vegetable!

Every summer our church has a garden produce section. People with gardens bring in their extra produce, and those without buy the produce. All the proceeds go to our church's food pantry. This Sunday there were cucumbers, Armenian cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, and garlic. I took one look and could almost taste my favorite way to eat cucumbers.

I got one regular cucumber and, since I'd never seen other cucumber varieties, I also got one Armenian one. The Armenian cucumber had a slightly different and stronger flavor, and a firmer texture.

So, here's how I made my healthy cucumber even healthier:

Creamy Cucumbers from the Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook

.5 c. dairy sour cream or plain yogurt
1 T vinegar
1 tsp sugar
.25 tsp salt
.25 tsp dried dillweed
1 large cucumber, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced (about 3 cups)
1 small onion, thinly sliced and separated into rings

In a covered container stir together the sour cream, vinegar, sugar, dillweed, salt, and dash of pepper. Add cucumbers and onion; toss to coat. Cover and chill for 2 to 24 hours, stirring often. Stir before serving. Makes 6 side-dish servings.

Terah's changes:
I used yogurt and increased it to 1 c. because that's how much I had and it would be a pain to scrape out a little yogurt container just to save 4 oz. I also increased the sugar to 1 T because I didn't want to get out another measuring spoon & I like sugar. I left out the dill because why would anyone want to ruin a dish by putting dill in it? Yuck!

I would also add that eating cucumbers like this is only good if you have good cucumbers. I also prefer the smaller cucumbers because they don't have such a tough skin - that way you can just leave the skin on. I imagine that's where all the nutrients are anyway since the lighter the vegetable, the less nutrients there are, and the skin is the only color source. Plus, who wants to take time to peal things?