Cucumber recipes

Quick summer vegetable refrigerator pickles with fennel, zucchini, cauliflower, and red onion in a fennel-seed and peppercorn brine finished with olive oil and balsamic. Keeps a month.

Marinated olives infused with warm olive oil, crushed fennel seeds, bay leaves, garlic, and fresh lemon peel. A 24-hour Mediterranean appetizer that beats any deli counter version.

Falafel in pita pockets: cumin and coriander-spiced chickpea patties stuffed into warm pita bread. A Middle Eastern street food staple made quickly at home.

Sweet dill pickles made by transforming store-bought dills into garlicky sweet pickles with a vinegar-sugar brine. Southern bread-and-butter style shortcut.

Creamy and tasty tzatziki sauce is quick and easy to make, and packed with flavor. A delicious addition to accomplish any meat course.

Veal chops in spicy sauce: braised with cumin, saffron, coriander, and cayenne, then finished with a cool cucumber-yogurt spoon sauce. Warm spice meets bright tang in one Dutch oven.

Cumin-crusted chicken breasts seared in cast iron, sliced over a fresh tomato, cucumber, and jalapeno salad with a warm red wine vinegar dressing. A high-protein, low-fat dinner in 40 minutes.

A Mexican-inspired chilled gazpacho loaded with fresh Roma tomatoes, zucchini, roasted garlic and spicy vegetable juice, topped with crispy tortilla strips and crumbled Cotija cheese.

Karrysalat is the Danish curry herring salad with pickled herring, macaroni, cucumber, and mushrooms in a curried sour cream and mayonnaise dressing. A traditional Scandinavian smorrebrod topping with a unique East-meets-North flavor.

Thai-style plain fried rice with tofu, garlic, soy sauce, and white pepper, served with fresh cucumber, cilantro, chilies, and lime wedges.

No-cook cashew pita pockets with curried yogurt, cucumber, bell pepper, and red onion. A crunchy vegetarian lunch ready in 15 minutes flat.

Stir-fried beef salad piles seared strips of round steak and crisp-tender vegetables over wilted fresh spinach for a warm, low-calorie main-dish salad. A high-protein dinner in 30 minutes of cook time.

I put it on lettuce, eat it with pita chips, or serve it with meat. Always have some plump kalamatas on hand when eating it. So delicious to dunk them in the sauce.

Indonesian nasi goreng (fried rice) with shrimp, chicken, and barbecued pork, built on a shrimp paste and chili spice paste with tamarind and kecap manis. Authentic Southeast Asian flavor.

Steelhead fillet Bonne Femme: poached in fish fumet, blanketed in white wine sauce and sauteed mushrooms, glazed with hollandaise under the broiler. A classic French seafood preparation.

Stunning Chinese shredded vegetable and chicken platter with wood ear fungus, egg strips, and a ginger-mustard sesame dressing. A composed cold salad that looks as spectacular as it tastes.