When life (or friends) gives you copious amounts of fresh veggies, you have to think of some good recipes, quick. Before everything goes all to hell and your home is overrun by fruit flies.
The obvious answer (besides Really Big Salad) is gazpacho! I recommend this recipe, though I have to say while I followed the ingredient list, I paid very little attention to amounts. 5 tomatos, 2 cucumbers, 2 peppers, vidalia instead of red onion…and so on. Also a few splashes of hot sauce, and serve with a dollop of sour cream. Cool summer time goodness, goes great with burgers right off the grill.
I had to use MORE cucumbers, though, and what cool, creamy cucumber treat popped into my head, but tzaziki! I made up a meal around it, and I will give you the recipe here, because it was GOOD. Authenticity questionable, deliciousness guarenteed. (I think that’s going to be my next tagline)
Greek grilled chicken pitas - all amounts are approximate, because I surely didn’t measure!
Make tzaziki -
- 1 - 2 cups greek yogurt (or strained plain yogurt - just let it sit in a paper towel lined sieve over a bowl for an hour or so) - i used the larger package of fago greek yogurt
- 2 chopped cucumbers (chopped, spread out on dish towel, sprinkled with salt, let sit an hour or so to bring out the moisture, roll up in towel, press lightly, and there - de-moisturized cucumbers!)
- chopped clove of garlic (or more if you dare)
- chopped mint (about 2tsp)
- 1/2 cup crumbled feta
combine all ingredients, cover, and store in fridge for several hours to marry flavors - can be made the night before, but know that the raw garlic will get more potent the longer it sits!
chicken marinade
- juice of one lemon
- 3 glugs of olive oil (what? glug is a term!)
- 2 tbsp fresh oregano (or 1 tsp of dried)
- salt and pepper
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1/4 cup plain yogurt
mix all ingredients together. cut up 3 - 4 boneless chicken breasts into large bite sized chunks, combine in ziplock bag with marinade, set in fridge - several hours to overnight.
NOW you’re ready to cook!
put marinated chicken chunks on skewers (kabobs!) and grill until done. Cut pita bread in half, and stuff with lettuce, tomato, tzaziki, and chicken. *nom*, repeat.
serve with a side of greek potatos (warning: addictive).
GO FORTH AND EAT WELL!
if you have a good knife, you can do one of my favorite sushi bar items with cukes. peel and slice (like a coil) the cucumber and discard the center seeds. place avocado & crab stick on one end of the cucumber and roll up. top with sesame seed and ponzu sauce. . . YUM!
YUM!!!! I love gazpacho too!!!!!
I’ve never tried either one of the ones you posted, but a yummy one we do is to peel and slice thin some cucumbers (one medium one is enough to decide if you like this). Then mix vinegar (with some water to cut the tartness if desired), thinly sliced onions, a half clove of garlic sliced very thin or pounded to a pulp, sugar, salt and pepper to taste. Put the cukes into the vinegar mix (make enough mix to just cover the cucumbers) and tell your mom to leave them the hell alone for a couple of hours–oh, wait, that’s just at my house. At your house just stick ‘em in the fridge til suppertime and nibble on them with whatever else you made.