Cucumber would have to be one of those vegetables I rarely eat. It's good in salads, but M's not a fan, and when I buy them they end up going bad before I get through the small package of 4 or the one massive one. Plus, you can't cook cucumbers, so you can't salvage the slowly wilting veggie by slicing and dicing and throwing it in a pot, right?
Well, it would seem that cucumber is subliminally trying to convince both myself and a friend of mine that it can indeed be cooked or baked. The evidence:
Situation A
Last week, I was describing to my mom the vegetable soup I was planning to make as part of dinner for a little dinner party M and I were having on Friday night (random note: I ended up making cream of mushroom soup. M made the most divine chicken. No one could believe he'd cooked it. We have left overs. I'm in heaven.) So, as I'm describing the soup, I say it has diced onions, celery, cucumbers, only I'm saying all of this in Arabic, and my mom goes "Wha?? Cucumbers? WHY are you putting cucumbers in your soup?"
To which I respond, "I always put cucumbers in my soup. I got it from you. YOU always put cucumbers in your soup" and she shakes her head profusely and we continue to have this debate for 5 minutes before my little sis says "I thought M didn't like cucumbers?"
I start to answer that "no, no, M doesn't like.... oh, wait, M doesn't like cucumbers". At which point I realise that I've been saying cucumber all along when I meant to be saying carrot. Cucumber in soup jokes ensue for the remainder of the evening.
Situation B
I have been eating everything on my allergy list with complete abandon on and off for about 2 months and I have decided to put an end to it with a 7-day no wheat, no dairy, no sugar challenge to myself. For moral support, and to hold myself accountable, I posted this to my status on facebook and my friends have been very good in cheering me on. So much so that one of them offered me her "cucumber cookie" recipe.... Now, having just had this cucumbers-don't-cook conversation with my sis and mother, I am very skeptical, and ask her what on earth this could possibly be. Somewhere in the back of my mind I'm thinking there's a teensy possibility that a cucumber cookie does in fact exist in some alternate raw food vegan universe, but I'm just doubtful that my friend belongs to this universe. Well, ta-dah! I'm right. Friend meant zucchini cookie. She sent the recipe too. it looks divine, but it has butter, sugar, and wheat flour... I could substitute. I might give an alternate version of the recipe a try. if I do, and it's edible. I will post.
So there you have it folks. Cucumbers are feeling the heat (or they aren't and badly want to be... hardy-har-har).
Monday, March 16, 2009
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13 comments:
Yeah, I think it's mostly salads and pickles. But you know, I've had cucmber soup before. It was chilled and had dill in it.
really? Cucumber soup?? I can't even imagine. Is it more like a cold smoothie they just called soup?
I've had cucumber soup too. Yeah, it's uncooked, so you could think of it as a smoothie in a bowl.
And thanks for this post, you've reminded me of the great tomato vs. cucumber debate of my childhood.
Hey K, what's the great tomato vs. cuce debate?
Just the story of two brothers, one of whom didn't like cucumbers, whereas the other didn't like tomatoes. But they could always come together over salad in the end, so it's all good.
Hahaa! I wonder who those could be?? Do you still dislike tomatoes? I'll have to ask M about that...
Hey Noha,
This is the FUNNIEST post you have ever written. Love it love it love it. I was cracking up on the inside (kids asleep, no aloud noises!) while reading it.
The funny thing is that I eat cucumbers raw quite a bit now & you'll find (or at least I've found) that the best way to do this is that when you open the fridge to grab a light snack (apple or orange or peach (if you're getting peaches in your stores right now) etc.) just grab a cucumber instead. Resist the urge to slice it in any way at all (well except if it's the huge one, then you'll have to slice :() & just give it a wash and bite right in. At first it seems weird but you'll find that after a few times it feels eerily normal & that it's a rather wonderful, juicy and light veggie. & it must have lots of vitamins (esp if eaten with skin (& if you're scared of pesticides then you should rinse in a bowl of water with a tsp of vinegar & say Bismillah before you eat it (well you should say Bismillah even if you're not scared of pesticides (which you should be) and aren't rinsing in vinegar water)).
As for baking with zucchini's, I've recently found out the reasone so many cakes and cookies have the big Z in them is to cure gardner's woe's. Apparently, it grows like a weed & ppl need to know what to do with all that zucchini. So you never now, cucumbers might work as a replacement, but you'd definitely have to peel & put in the blender to get the seeds a little mushed, which might make it too much work, unless you're an avid cucumber activist, which you seem to be.
A few final thoughts: I want the recipe of the divine chicken that M made. Please. I know I know that I owe u a recipe that I haven't yet sent & I will send it.
& Lastly: I hope you enjoyed this post full of run on sentences & brackets inside brackets.
Take good care
HH
HH - glad you enjoyed the post... I also found it pretty hilarious that we all seemed suddenly cuce obsessed.
M's recipe is actually his mom's famous chicken. I'll get you the recipe. it's actually extremely simple/easy...
As for eating them straight out of the fridge, they're so cold! And my teeth get all sensitive if I don't cut them up this way or that... but maybe I'll try it out again soon.
cucumbers are da bomb! All Gremlins looooooooove cucumbers but stay far away from carrots.
haha! studies show that 2 out 3 sisters will comment on your blog if the post is related to random vegetables ;)
No, it's more like a creamy carrot or squash soup.
really? i gotta go look this up on allrecipes... I can't even imagine it.
and here's what I found:
1 c. milk
1 med. cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced
2 cans condensed cream of potato soup
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
1 c. heavy cream
Chopped chives
Pour milk and cucumber in blender. Blend until cucumber is finely minced. Add 1 can of soup, blend. Pour out half of mixture into bowl. Blend other can of soup with remaining mixture in blender. Combine in bowl with other ingredients, except chives. Chill thoroughly.
To serve, spoon into cups, sprinkle with chopped chives.
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