Thai Cucumber Salad

It’s that time of year again when our garden is busting with cucumbers so I’m once again on the lookout for delicious ways to enjoy our bounty.  Last summer my absolute favorite way to enjoy the cucumbers was my Spicy Asian Cucumber Salad and though I know that I’ll be making that salad many times this summer I decided to try a new salad this year with our first harvest.  I was reading Roz’s blog la bella vita and she had a recipe for a Thai Cucumber Salad which really caught my attention so with my first cucumber harvest of the season I present my version of Roz’s salad which was wonderfully delicious and going into the cucumber salad rotation for future harvests.  

Thai Cucumber Salad (adapted from here)

• 5 cucumbers, seeded (you can also peel them if you like)
• 2 medium red onions
• 4 Thai red chilies, minced (I left the seeds in for the heat but they can be removed)
• 1 large bunch cilantro, chopped

Dressing:

• 3 TBS. peanut oil 
• 1/2 cup rice wine vinegar 
• 2 TBS. soy sauce 
• 3 TBS. Thai garlic chili pepper sauce (this is not HOT sauce at all)
• the zest and juice of 4 fresh limes
• 1/4 cup Whey Low Gold (or palm sugar or brown sugar)
• 3 TBS Thai Fish Sauce 
• 1/2 tsp. fresh ground pepper

Using a mandolin or food processor, thinly slice the cucumber and the onions and add to a large bowl.  Slice the Thai red chilies into rings, leaving in the seeds for extra heat and add to the cucumber & onions.  Chop a bunch of cilantro and also add to the bowl. 

In a separate bowl mix together the dressing ingredients and then pour over the cucumber mixture and stir to coat.  Put the entire mixture in a Ziploc bag and allow to marinate overnight.  This easily keeps in the refrigerator for a good week…if it lasts that long.

Enjoy!

Spicy Asian Cucumber Salad

Just like last summer our garden is producing cucumbers at an amazing pace so I’m always interested in new ways to prepare them.  When I saw a recipe on Cooking with K for a Spicy Asian Cucumbers Salad I knew that it would be a good one for us.  Eammon and I both really enjoyed this preparation, so-much-so that the very first night we ate the entire recipe and I immediately made a second batch.  I used red Thai chili peppers and they gave the salad quite a kick which we both loved but if you’re not into spicy as much, cut down, cut out or use a pepper which isn’t quite as hot.

Spicy Asian Cucumber Salad (adapted from here)

3/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon Whey Low Granular or sugar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sesame oil
3 large cucumbers, peeled, seeded and sliced
1 medium Vidalia onion, halved and then thinly sliced
2 fresh red Thai chili peppers, sliced (optional)
2 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted

In a large bowl stir together rice vinegar, water, sugar, soy sauce, salt & sesame oil. Add cucumbers, onions and Thai chili peppers tossing to coat. Cover and chill at least 1 hour. Add sesame seeds and toss. Chill to let the flavors blend.  Stays for a week in the fridge…if it remains uneaten that long.

Enjoy!

{Recipe revisited} Watermelon Tomato Gazpacho

This is one of my absolute favorite summer soups and I have been waiting to make it this summer with a homegrown watermelon and veggies from our garden.  The time finally came this past Sunday night when our first, of many, many in still in the garden, watermelon was finally ripe and ready to be picked.  

Sunday night my neighbor Steve and I pulled a “wee” little 23.8 pound watermelon from our garden which we split in half for our families to share. 

The melon was gorgeous, ruby red, sweet and perfectly ripe.  My only complaint was that it had seeds but for what I was going to do with the melon, that wasn’t a problem.  We enjoyed some of the melon and then I cut all of the flesh and seeds from the rind, discarded the rind and put the flesh, seeds and all into a big gallon sized pitcher.  Then using my stick blender I pureed everything and strained the liquid through a Chinois to remove the bits of seeds.  That was my base for my delicious Watermelon Tomato Gazpacho.  I then poured some of the strained watermelon juice into to my blender jar, added all the other ingredients, gave it a whirl, poured it all back into the big pitcher with the strained watermelon juice, gave it a stir and I had a gorgeous batch of Watermelon Tomato Gazpacho.  All I had left to do was dice up some extra cucumber, melon & tomatoes for garnish and soup was on the table. 

Below is my original recipe with the only difference being that I used a seedless watermelon so some of the above steps weren’t needed.  This gazpacho is just a bit sweet from the watermelon and the flavors of the tomato & cucumber come through as very clean tastes without the usual acid found in typical gazpacho.  I hope that you’ll give this recipe a try, it’s a real summer treat.

Watermelon Tomato Gazpacho 

6 cups small diced seedless watermelon and liquid
1/2 cucumber, peeled, seeded & diced
2 very ripe medium tomatoes, diced
1 clove garlic
2 TBS minced sweet onion
1/2 jalapeno, seeded
10 basil leaves
1/4 cup good quality extra virgin olive oil
salt
pepper

Extra diced watermelon, cucumber & tomato as well as basil leaves for garnish.

Put first eight ingredients into a blender and process until very smooth.  It is not necessary but if you want the gazpacho perfectly smooth, strain the liquids through a Chinois and then season to taste with salt & pepper (if you want your gazpacho with more texture just skip the straining step).  Chill overnight or until very cold and then pour into serving bowls and garnish with the extra diced watermelon, cucumber, tomato and a fresh basil leaf.

Enjoy!!

Super Simple Summer Shrimp Salsa Salad

This is one of my favorite salads and all summer long it can be found in my refrigerator as we never seem to tire of it.

I’d have to say that this salad is the first one I think to make when we start harvesting veggies from our garden.  I always make the large batch as listed below and we enjoy it for days but the recipe is easily scaled up or down to fit any ones needs.  Truthfully some days I eat this salad for breakfast, lunch and dinner as it’s healthy, not too high in calories or sugar and has a good amount of protein from the shrimp.  I think that the salad gets better a few days in because the avocado sort of melts and adds a nice extra richness.  What I generally do, is after a day or two when I notice that there’s no longer any avocado chunks, I’ll dice up another one and add it to the salad as the creamy avocado chunks are one of my favorite parts.  I hope that you’ll make and enjoy this salad and that it becomes a favorite in your home too.   

Super Simple Summer Shrimp Salsa Salad

2 lbs small, medium or large (not the tiny salad shrimp) cooked shrimp, peeled, de-veined and tail removed
3 lbs Mango Salsa with Peach (or fruit salsa of your choice)
3 – 4 large plum tomatoes, diced
1 large cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced
3 avocados, diced (more to be added later if desired)
1 medium Vidalia onion, diced

Sometimes I also add:
The kernels from 4 ears of grilled corn

Place all the ingredients in to a large bowl and gently toss to mix and coat. Cover tightly and chill for a couple of hours before serving.

Enjoy!!