Editor’s Note: For our Summer Recipes series, we are finding more ways to cool down. Recently, Ellen Sue Spicer-Jacobson showed us how delicious antioxidants are via delectable fruit salads and tropical smoothies! This week, we are cool as cucumbers with, well. . . cucumber salads of course!

To me, cucumbers are the ultimate hot weather food. With some hot days still ahead, try these cuke salads. Cucumbers are watery (cooling), crunchy, low in calories, and delicious. In addition, cucumbers contain most of the vitamins you need every day — just one contains Vitamin B1, Vitamin B2, Vitamin B3, Vitamin B5, Vitamin B6, Folic Acid, Vitamin C, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium and Zinc.

Cubed Cuke Salad

Utensils: Cutting board & knife, bowl for serving, small bowl for mixing dressing if making your own
Prep. Time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: None!
Categories: Vegan, GF, NSA

Ingredients
one large (organic cucumber)

red onion slices

(black) sesame seeds

Dressing:
Your favorite salad dressing  OR
1/4 cup of Sesame oil with lemon juice (1/2 lemon), a dash of tamari soy sauce, salt & pepper to taste

Directions

1. Wash and peel (or not) the cucumber (Mine was organic, but the skin was not tender, so I peeled stripes along the length of the cucumber so the peel would not be as great as an unpeeled cuke.)
2. Cube or dice the cucumber into a bowl. Slice 2 or three pieces of a red onion thinly, then cut the slices crosswise into smaller slivers.
3. Whisk dressing ingredients in a small bowl and pour over salad and toss. Add sesame seeds (I used black) and serve.

Variation: For added protein, dice tofu into bowl before adding dressing. Extra-firm tofu is best. You may also use the flavored tofu available in most stores and can pick your flavor: Italian, Asian, etc. It is more flavorful than plain tofu, but also more expensive.

Lemon-Lime Cucumber Salad

Cucumbers coupled with dill are a summer favorite of mine. But since I am not a huge fan of vinegar, except maybe umeboshi plum vinegar, I decided to try lemons and limes for the base. But I do love dill! So I bought a bouquet of dill and chopped it up for the salad. (I actually put the dill in a vase of water on my kitchen table, so I really did make it look like a bouquet.)

Utensils: Cutting board & knife, salad bowl
Prep. Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: None!
Categories: Vegan, Gluten free, Sugar Free

Ingredients

one large (or 2 small) organic cucumber, washed
2-3 slices of red onion
juice of one lemon and 1/2 lime (or any combo of the two)
1/4 cup chopped dill leaves
salt and pepper or low sodium tamari to taste (Tamari is gluten-free)
sesame seeds (optional)

Directions

1. Once the cuke is washed well, use a vegetable peeler to remove skin, partially, by making stripes along the cuke, vertically, spacing the peeling as equally as possible. Then slice thinly.
2. With a large cucumber, the rings may be too large to manage, so cut through the entire sliced cucumber down the middle. (If you are using 2 small ones, you may skip this step.)
3. Place the cut and sliced cucumber in a medium-sized bowl. Add slices of red onion and dill. Then add the lemon/lime juice* and salt & pepper (or a couple dashes of tamari) and toss.
4. Chill for a few minutes before serving. Sprinkle with sesame seeds for garnish, if you wish.

*Note: My lemon was not very juicy, so I added 1 tbl. water to the bowl.