For years I loathed cucumbers. Just the smell of them would set me off, even though I really love pickles. Then, like last week, something changed. Now I love them--how weird is that? I certainly don't understand it, but I am loving these cucumbers.
To feed my new obsession, I decided to recreate a recipe a friend made two summers ago, except hers didn't have cucumbers in it, or else I wouldn't have eaten it. Despite the fact that I've been vegetarian for fifteen years, and was an unenthusiastic meat eater before that, I really never any many vegetables growing up. In fact, making this salad was my first foray into buying/ cutting cucumber at all, so I'm pretty darn proud for how diverse my tastes have become.
Ingredients:
1 large or 2 medium tomato
1 can black beans (about 1.5 cup dry)--well rinsed
1 medium or 1.5 small cucumber--the cucumbers in the store were tiny! What's up with that?
1 cup corn--I used frozen, and rinsed it in hot water to thaw
1 tbsp white vinegar
salt & pepper
- Dice all the vegetables to desired smallness--except the corn.
- Add to medium bowl
- Stir and add vinegar, salt & pepper to taste
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| Look at my delicious dinner: veggie burger, salad and grilled zucchini. Yummers! |
That's it! It's a little tastier if you make it ahead and let it spend some time in the fridge, but it's also good at room temperature. If you had a little fresh cilantro, that would probably be a good addition too, but I did not have cilantro.
I'll be back to regular blogging Tuesday, but you might see a recap of my frugal vacation before that--who knows! Sorry to be a tease.
Happy 4th!
p.s. a bit of advice please, RE: cucumbers. I peeled and seeded mine because I've heard people say "cucumber: peeled and seeded", do I need to do that? I swear I've eaten cucumber seed and lived. What's the deal with that?
p.s. a bit of advice please, RE: cucumbers. I peeled and seeded mine because I've heard people say "cucumber: peeled and seeded", do I need to do that? I swear I've eaten cucumber seed and lived. What's the deal with that?
I adore pickles and am so-so on cucumbers. The fact that there's vinegar in this might be enough to convince me to try it.
ReplyDeleteCucumbers that come from the store generally have very large and slimy seeds because they let them grow so long. Younger, smaller, and homegrown cucumbers have smaller and more edible seeds.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I believe store cucumbers are coated with food-grade wax which you can eat but is maybe not the best. And the skins seem to be thicker, even discounting the wax. I think they are bred to be hardy and not scrape off during transport.