Recipes with cucumbers

Cold bow-tie pasta salad with cherry tomatoes, black olives, cucumbers, radishes, and roasted sunflower seeds in a tangy lemon dressing. A crunchy, make-ahead side dish that's best chilled overnight.

Salsa Bandera is a fresh Mexican salsa with chopped tomatoes, cucumber, radishes, cilantro, and a vinegar-lemon dressing. No cooking required, just chop, mix, and serve with chips.

Quick refrigerator pickles with cucumber slices, garlic, vinegar, and red pepper flakes. A no-canning cold-brine recipe ready in an hour. Spicy, garlicky, and addictively crunchy.

Swedish-style pickled herring platter with sour cream, arranged with alternating mounds of chopped egg white, egg yolk, cucumber, pickled beets, and parsley. A no-cook Scandinavian appetizer ready in 10 minutes.

Crispy golden phyllo cups filled with a creamy smoked trout, horseradish and scallion mixture, topped with cool shredded cucumber. An elegant make-ahead appetizer that yields 48 bite-sized pieces.

"Chinese" chicken salad by David Cassidy, adapts to serve any number of people.

Peanut-packed Thai pork meatballs simmered in a spicy peanut butter sauce, served over shattering crispy cellophane noodles. Ready in 40 minutes with bold, crave-worthy flavor.

Sweet refrigerator pickles ready in 24 hours, with crisp cucumbers, sliced onions, garlic, celery seed, and mustard seed in a sweet vinegar brine. No canning required, keeps two months chilled.

Garden Special is a big-batch vegetable relish with green tomatoes, lima beans, cabbage, corn, cucumbers, and peppers in a sweet brown sugar and vinegar brine.

Assorted blanched vegetables are served with a creamy and flavorful peanut butter sauce.

Grandma's New England pickles: whole cucumbers pickled in a vinegar, salt, sugar, and dry mustard brine for 30 days. Tangy, addictive, old-school homemade pickles with a bite.

Old-fashioned sweet chunk pickles brined for two weeks, then packed in a warm cinnamon-clove syrup and water bath canned. Crunchy, spiced, and worth every day of the wait. Makes 3 pints.

Old-fashioned lime pickles (pickling lime, not citrus) with cucumbers soaked in calcium hydroxide for crunch, then sweet-pickled with celery seed and cloves. The Southern church-supper classic.

Green olive-cucumber salad set in lime gelatin with lemon juice, lemon zest, and onion-stuffed olives. A retro molded salad with a tangy, savory twist.

A cool, no-cook cucumber sauce with mayo, fresh lemon zest, lemon juice, and dill. Spoon it over broiled, poached, or fried fish for an instant flavor upgrade. Five ingredients, five minutes.

A very quick and easy cucumber salad that's refreshing on a hot summer day.