Cucumbers – They’re What’s for Salad

Despite the lack of rainfall lately or maybe in spite of it, the cucumbers and zucchini have been multiplying nearly overnight. For the past couple of mornings, Grenville has come in the house loaded with lots of green torpedoes, otherwise known as cukes and zukes. Of course, pickling the cukes would be a solution, but in case Grenville forgot to mention it, there’s a  jarred cukes in the pantry from last year’s pickling – enough to last the rest of this year and beyond.

We’ve been gifting them because we can’t eat them fast enough – and don’t think we haven’t noticed that some neighbors pretend not to be home or claim not to like cucumbers. The solution? LOTS of salads. (And, Grenville makes a great cuke sandwich with mayo and white bread.) The nice thing about salads is that all can be made ahead and  taste better when chilled. So, If anyone reading has a favorite (and easy) cuke salad recipe, please post in a reply.  This is a favorite of ours
Sour Cream Cucumbers
This is an easy recipe for an abundance of summer cukes. As with any recipe, there are options (see a few below).

• 1 medium cucumbers, thinly sliced, peel first if desired
• 1 small onion, thinly sliced (Vidalia or red onion)
• ½ C sour cream
• 1 tbsp vinegar
• 1 tsp sugar
• ½ tsp salt  & pepper (to taste)

Dry cucumber slices with paper towels. Combine cucumbers and onion. Generously season with salt and pepper. Toss and let sit 10 minuets, drain any excess liquids.

Stir together sour cream, vinegar, sugar and salt. Toss with  cukes. Cover and refrigerate until well  chilled; stir a few times while marinating. Before serving, season with salt and pepper to taste, if needed.

Options: Some folks peel the cukes before slicing (we don’t). Add a couple tbsp of mayo and chopped scallions and/or garlic. And to reduce calories, substitute plain yogurt in place of sour cream.