Sunday, September 28, 2014

Cucumber Salad


This summer we've worked harder to eat by season. So between our garden and the farm share we purchased we've done pretty well. It has been a challenge here and there when you get the same ingridents over and over. You want to come up with something new and not always eat the ingredients the same way. I think we've been pretty successful overall. 

We planted about 6-8 plants of cucumbers this year and ALL of them grew. We had cucumbers coming out our ears. I gave a ton away, we picked a ton and then I still had a few pounds left. Earlier for a party I'd wanted to make an old fashion cucumber salad but didn't when I saw that the cucumbers had to be salted and sit for 2 hours. Well last weekend I had 2 hours to spare so I made the recipe. My mom had made it growing up and said that it froze well. We froze several pint glass jars that I'll pull out later in the fall. 

Kevin made another batch using the very last of the cucumbers that came from the garden as everything got pulled up. This batch I've been eating all week! It's stay crispy and yummy and I still have some left that I'll eat over the next few days. 



This is an old Betty Crocker recipe that we've edited for Paleo. 

2-3 medium cucumbers
1 tablespoon sea salt
1/4 cup vinegar
2 tablespoons coconut sugar
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Thinly slice the cucumbers and place in a shallow pan and salt in layers. Place a cutting board and heavy object on top of the cucumbers and let it sit for 2 hours. Because we did this recipe x 5 I used a 9x13 pan, cutting board, paper towel over cutting board then our food processor. Worked like a charm. This just sits out on the counter. 

After 2 hours drain the liquid and press out any additional. Combine the vinegar, coconut sugar, and pepper and pour over the cucumbers. Refrigerate and eat later. 

FREEZER instructions
To freeze in glass jars I filled the jars with the drained cucumbers then poured liquid over and left down about 1" from the top of the jar. This allows for expansion during freezing. I lightly put the lids / rings on and place in the freezer. After they are frozen then i'll tighten the lid. I've not had any of the frozen ones yet, however mom said it works. Based on how crispy the batch is that i made earlier this week I can't see this not coming out of the freezer perfectly!

Now for what to have your cucumbers with:

 Breakfast of: PaleOmg's Breakfast Bacon Maple Meatballs + cucumber salad + fresh tomatoes
Taco Salad - Lettuce, fresh cut tomatoes, cucumber salad, taco meat, onions and lime with hot sauce
The vinegar from the cucumber salad was beyond perfect for this salad!
Breakfast of: Taco meat, cucumber salad, diced tomatoes

I've also had the cucumber salad with pretty much every meal this week because there's so much of it. The rest of the family only likes pickles and doesn't care for the cucumbers any other way. Oh well, their loss.

Enjoy!
Yvonne

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