Tag Archives: cucumbers

Vegetables and Salads

Greek Salad

Crunchy, chunky, savory Greek salad with olives, basil, and oregano can be eaten as a side dish or a meal in itself. Greek salad always reminds me of Anna.

Greek salad ingredients

Ingredients:

Greek salad
That looks like an olive tree in the background… (by Anna)
  • 1 small red onion, sliced
  • 1 large tomato, chopped
  • 1 green pepper, in strips
  • 1 red pepper, in strips
  • 1 cucumber, pared and diced
  • 2 T olive oil
  • 1 T lemon juice or vinegar
  • 1 clove garlic, crushed
  • 1/2 tsp. oregano
  • 1 T fresh basil, minced
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1/4 tsp. thyme
  • Freshly ground pepper
  • 12 large black olives
  • 1/4 lb. feta cheese, cubed

Toss vegetables together. Mix oil, lemon juice, garlic, herbs and seasonings. Shake. Pour over vegetables and chill. Toss with feta cheese and olives and serve.

Vegan version

Easy: Just omit the feta cheese or substitute cubes or crumbles of well-drained tofu that’s been marinated in a mixture of oil, vinegar or lemon juice, nutritional yeast, garlic, oregano, and other herbs to your taste.


Pickles, Salsas, and Miscellaneous

Ukrainian Dill Pickles

  • Small cucumbers
  • Fresh Dill
  • Garlic
  • 20 c. water & 1 c. salt (not iodized)
  • 1 t. pickling spice per jar

Wash and pack cucumbers into sterilized jars, vertically. Put a sprig of dill amongst them and add a couple of cloves of garlic to each jar. Bring water and salt to boil and add pickling spice; while still boiling pour over packed cucumbers in jars, filling to brim. Seal tight. Ready for use in about 3 weeks.

Soups and Stews

Andalucian Gazpacho

Gazpacho is a refreshing cold soup from the Mediterranean–most notably Spain–made from raw vegetables and tangy seasonings.

A Mexican tweak on traditional Andalucian gazpacho is to add creamy, pureed avocado, a fruit native to Mexico and Central America, to the blended base, or add cubed avocado to each bowl as a garnish when serving.

gazpacho soup

 

Andalucian Gazpacho ingredients

  • 6 small, ripe tomatoes, peeled and chopped coarsely
  • 4 small cucumbers, finely chopped
  • 1 green pepper, finely minced
  • 1 clove garlic, finely mashed
  • 2 T grated carrot (optional)
  • 2 T grated onion
  • Cold water
  • 2 T lemon or lime juice
  • 2 t dry mustard
  • dash of  Tabasco
  • salt and pepper

Combine tomatoes, cucumber, green pepper, garlic, carrot, and onion. Add cold water to cover. Can be mixed in blender or pounded in a mortar and pestle for a creamy soup, or finely chopped or run quickly through food processor for chunkier soup.

Add lemon juice, dry mustard, Tabasco, and seasonings. Chill at least 8 hours.

If desired, serve with a spoonful of coarsely chopped tomato and cucumber a dab of sour cream.

A chunk of day-old bread, softened in water, can be added to the blended soup to provide a thicker consistency.