Monday, July 18, 2011

Keepin' it Real RECIPE: Cucumbers and Onions

I went out this (hot, humid) morning and decided to pick cucumbers. I am not even halfway through picking and I have 8 good-sized cucumbers! The bees were getting a little too friendly, so I decided to leave the rest to the bees until this evening and deal with what I've got first.



So...


Cucumbers and Onions (sour)

1. Wash and peel(if desired) your cucumbers, then slice thinly into a bowl.
2. Add 1 thinly sliced onion.
3. Make a brine of 1 part vinegar (I am currently using Fleischmanns Raw Apple Cider Vinegar purchased at Meijer) and 1 part water. Then, add just enough sugar to where you can taste the sweetness. Generally, a couple tablespoons.
4. Stir brine and pour over cucumbers and onion, making sure it's all covered with liquid.
5. Let sit in the fridge to soak/chill.  I like to let it sit for at least an hour or so, but my mother-in-law has made this up and served it at Sunday lunch many times.

Rather than making new brine every time, you can simply add more veggies to the existing brine for awhile.


I got my husband's seal of approval on the above recipe, though it's a little too vinegary for me to eat a lot of it in one sitting.



So...I adapted the dressing from my  Tailgate Salad Recipe to try on cucumbers and onions. I'm not sure you'd even need to add the oil, but I didn't want to change it up too much the first time. I will be experimenting with not adding oil next time, and then after that I will experiment with adding less sugar.




Cucumbers and Onions (sweet)

1. Wash and peel your cucumbers (if desired) and slice thinly into a bowl.
2. Add 1 thinly sliced onion (I'm low on regular onions, so used a purple one this time around).
3. Combine 1 cup sugar and 3/4 cup Apple Cider Vinegar in a pan and gently warm and stir until sugar is dissolved.
4. Add 1/2 cup oil (I used olive oil) to warmed mixture and stir to combine.
5. Pour mixture over your cucumbers and onions and add about 1 cup of water to cover your veggies.
6. Let sit about 3 hours in the fridge before eating.

I prefer sweet to sour. Hubby prefers the sour ones because they are "more like Mom's" and low-carb.

Either way, these are a refreshing, cool, healthy treat for hot summer days!


Here's to Real Food!

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