Cool as a Cucumber!

Cool as a Cucumber!

Written By: Kristin Spiridigliozzi Adkins

When I moved into my house in 2017 I decided to start my own garden. I don’t have much of a green thumb, so I didn’t think I could actually do it and well to my surprise I was actually able to pull it off! That year I was able to grow cucumbers, tomatoes and green beans. Since then, I’ve planted a garden every year.

I learned a lot the first year I planted my garden. I have a raised garden bed and every day I watched as the seeds started sprouting through the soil. I did my share of research to make sure I kept my little crops happy and healthy and to make sure I didn’t over water, as stated above, I don’t really have a green thumb, which you can ask my household plants about, lol. 

My research first started with cucumbers. I don’t know about you, but I LOVE cucumbers. They are probably my favorite vegetable ever. Now, while doing my research I learned things that I didn’t really think I particularly needed to know but when I get carried away doing research I just dive right in and one link takes me to another and viola, I found out where they came from. 

Did you know that cucumbers have been cultivated for at least 3,000 years? I didn’t! Cucumbers also came from India. I found out that raw cucumbers (which is my favorite way to eat them, lol) are 95% water, 4% carbohydrates & 1% protein. Now I did not know that cucumbers had protein in them at all. So I found that little fact about them pretty interesting. You know how that saying goes, “you learn something new every day.” In cultivation, cucumbers are classified in three main cultivar groups: slicing, pickled and seedless/burpless. I’ve had the seedless cucumbers before, but for me, I like the slicing cucumbers. 

Many people wouldn’t think there are many health benefits of a cucumber but there are! Cucumbers are great for hydration, bone health, inflammation, skin care and I’m sure there are many more I didn’t list. I remember putting cucumbers over my eyes when I was little because I thought that is what you were supposed to do, lol! I probably saw someone in my family do it and thought I’d try it too. 

With summer almost here, even though I feel like it already is, there are many great things to do with cucumbers when you have way too many in the garden and will not be able to eat them all before they go bad. Of course, we all know you can pickle them, which I do love a good dill pickle! I haven’t tried this yet, but I do know people use them in smoothies. I love making a good creamy cucumber salad to take to summer get togethers, which I will post the recipe below. I also like to make a quick tuna salad, take a cucumber, wash it and then slice it and good size thick chunks and then scooping out the middle and leaving a little layer on the bottom to where it makes it a cucumber cup. Then I put my tuna salad mix in the cucumber cup and eat that as a quick snack! 

All in all, while I didn’t think I would get that deep into research and learn new things about cucumbers, when in reality all I was trying to learn about is how to make them happy, healthy and bountiful, I always like when I learn something new. 

Hope every one has a great start of the summer with kids out of school and don’t forget to stay “cool as a cucumber”!

Creamy Cucumber Salad

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

1/2 cup sour cream

2 tbsp lemon juice

1/2 tsp dried dill

1 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 large cucumber

1/4 red onion

Instructions: 

1. To make the dressing, combine the sour cream, lemon juice, sugar, dill and salt in a bowl. Set the dressing aside.
2. Peel the cucumbers, if desired. Slice the cucumbers and thinly slice the red onions.
3. Combine the cucumber, red onion and dressing in a large bowl and stir to combine. 
4. Let the salad sit for 5-10 minutes, give it another stir and then serve.

ENJOY!