Refreshing and healthy, cukes are a perfect summer food

Of all the garden's summertime offerings, none is quite so “cool” as a cucumber, a phrase coined in a 1732 English poem.

Cultivated around the world for more than 3,000 years, the cucumber has gained a following for its simple, raw and sometimes pickled appeal. It is said that the Romans used artificial methods to grow cucumbers out of season so that Emperor Tiberius could eat them every day of the year. Today, this India native is the basis for favorite recipes, like raita and tzatziki, as well as its many pickled roles in relish and dips.

Cucumbers (Cucumis sativus) belong to the same family as melons and squash. Though we think of them as vegetables, they are technically fruits, classified either as slicing cucumbers or pickling cucumbers. Slicing “cukes” are thick-skinned and consumed in their fresh form, while the pickling variety are smaller and have thinner skins. The most familiar cucumbers are long, with smooth, dark-green skin, but there are hundreds of varieties that differ in size, shape and even color.

With a 95 percent water content, cucumbers are hydrating and have a very low calorie count. A one-cup serving has only 16 calories, yet packs 22 percent of the daily value (recommended daily intake based on 2,000 calories per day) of bone-building vitamin K and 4 percent daily value of cell-protecting vitamin C.

True to its reputation, cucumber juice soothes irritated and swollen skin, and even cools against the pain of sunburn, according to the January 2013 Fitoterapia, the journal from the School of Natural Product Studies in India.

Cucumbers have a unique profile of plant compounds with health-promoting properties, including lignans, which have been associated with reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and certain cancers, and flavonoid antioxidants, including quercetin, apigenin and kaempferol. Animal studies have shown that cucumber can reduce inflammation, a root of chronic disease. While promising, cucumber research is still in the preliminary stages.

Generally, cucumbers are available fresh year-round. They should be refrigerated both in the market and at home because they are heat-sensitive. Choose those that are firm, evenly colored and without wrinkles. They will store for several days in the refrigerator whole and, if cut, in a sealed container. Enjoy cucumbers — which are most nutritious eaten with skin and seeds — sliced in salads or sandwiches, dipped in dressings or hummus, diced into tuna or chicken salad, floating in iced tea, or pureed into a green smoothie or cool gazpacho soup.

Lori Zanteson writes for Environmental Nutrition, a newsletter written by nutrition experts at www.environmentalnutrition.com.

Tzatziki

Apart from salting your cucumbers, you must pay attention to a couple of details to make your tzatziki as thick and flavorful as possible: Use whole-milk Greek yogurt, and if any thin liquid has separated from the yogurt, pour it off before using it.

Total time: 30 to 40 minutes, partially unattended

1 pound cucumbers, peeled if desired, seeded, and roughly chopped

Salt

2 cups whole-milk Greek yogurt

Juice of 3 lemons

¹⁄₂ cup chopped fresh dill

¹⁄₄ cup extra-virgin olive oil

5 cloves garlic, minced

Freshly ground black pepper

Put the chopped cucumbers in a large colander and toss with a large pinch of salt. Put the colander in the sink and let the cucumbers sit for 20 minutes, then gently pat dry with a paper towel.

Put the cucumbers, yogurt, lemon juice, dill, olive oil and garlic in a large bowl; season with salt and pepper. Stir to combine, then taste and adjust the seasoning. Serve immediately, or cover and refrigerate for a few hours before serving.

Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Summer Cooler of Tequila, Watermelon, Cucumber and Mint

This recipe comes from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Active time: 10 minutes

Total time: 10 minutes

5 leaves fresh mint, plus optional mint sprigs for garnish

2 ounces tequila

2 ¹⁄₂ ounces fresh watermelon juice

¹⁄₂ ounce fresh cucumber juice

³⁄₄ ounce agave syrup (1 part agave nectar mixed with 1 part water)

¹⁄₂ ounce lime juice

Ice

Additional watermelon with rind, cut into spears to use as garnish

Place the mint leaves in the palm of your hand, slap them to bruise and place them in a shaker. Add the tequila, watermelon juice, cucumber juice, agave syrup and lime juice. Fill with ice, shake and pour into tall glass. If desired, garnish with sprigs of fresh mint and watermelon spears.

A note on making the juice: If you don't have a juicer, you can make juices in a food processor. No need to peel or seed the cucumber. Cut off stem ends, cut into chunks, and pulse until soupy. Do not strain. For the watermelon, place chunks of seedless watermelon in the processor and pulse until soupy. Do not strain. You can also juice the watermelon by pushing chunks through a metal sieve.

Makes 1 cocktail.

Chilly Dilly Cucumber Soup

This cold cucumber-dill soup has a surprisingly seductive taste, writes Nancy Baggett of www.eatingwell.com. The secret is that both the broth and the yogurt garnish are loaded with fresh (never dried) dill and chives. Serve as a starter or a light lunch entree. The recipe calls for “handfuls” of herbs; if you are relying on the grocery store instead of the garden or farmers' market, you'll need about one large bunch or one to two 2- to 3-ounce packets.

Active time: 50 minutes

Total time: 3 hours 50 minutes (including 3 hours chilling time)

4 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth

1 ¹⁄₂ cups chopped and peeled waxy, thin-skinned potatoes (such as red or Yukon Gold, not russets)

¹⁄₂ cup chopped cauliflower or ¹⁄₂ cup additional chopped, peeled potatoes

¹⁄₂ cup chopped celery

1 large handful whole fresh dill sprigs (including stems), plus ¹⁄₄ cup coarsely chopped dill leaves, plus small sprigs for garnish

1 handful whole fresh chives, plus ¹⁄₄ cup coarsely chopped chives, plus more for garnish

1 cup low-fat or nonfat plain yogurt

1 tablespoon butter

1 ¹⁄₄ cups finely diced, seeded and peeled cucumber, plus thin half-moon slices for garnish

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Combine the broth, potatoes, cauliflower (or additional potato) and celery in a large saucepan. Lay the whole dill and chives on top. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Adjust the heat so it boils briskly, and cook until the vegetables are very tender when pierced with a fork, for 15 to 18 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside until cooled slightly.

Meanwhile, combine ¹⁄₄ cup each chopped dill and chives with the yogurt in a food processor. Process until the herbs are finely chopped and the mixture is slightly green. Transfer half the mixture to a bowl; cover it and refrigerate to use later as a garnish. Leave the remainder in the processor.

Using a fork, lift off and discard the herbs from the pan. Transfer the vegetables to the processor with a slotted spoon (leave the broth in the pan). Add the butter; process until the mixture is very smooth, scraping down the sides as needed.

Add the diced cucumber to the broth. Bring it to a gentle boil and cook until the cucumber is just cooked through but still slightly crisp, for about 3 minutes. Remove it from the heat. Thoroughly stir the pureed vegetables into the cucumber mixture. Season with pepper. Refrigerate until chilled, at least 3 hours or up to 3 days.

Serve the soup with a dollop of the reserved herbed yogurt. Garnish with small sprigs of dill, chopped chives and half-slices of cucumber, if desired.

Makes 5 servings, about 1 cup each.

Cucumber Collins with Blueberries

This recipe was adapted from Food and Drink magazine.

¹⁄₂ cup seeded and chopped cucumber

Ice

1 ¹⁄₂ ounces gin

1 tablespoon lime juice

2 tablespoons simple syrup

¹⁄₄ to ¹⁄₃ cup club soda

Cucumber slices, blueberries and mint leaves for garnish

To a cocktail shaker, add the cucumber, and muddle to extract all of the juices. Fill the shaker with ice and add the gin, lime juice and simple syrup.

Shake and strain into a tall glass filled with ice. Top with the desired amount of club soda. Garnish with a cucumber slice, blueberries and mint.

Makes 1 drink.

Pressed Cucumber Salad with Sour Cream

This recipe from the Associated Press borrows a technique from Japanese slaws that involves salting thinly sliced vegetables, then gently pressing them to remove water. Once dressed, these pressed salads have a more satisfying texture and won't dilute the other flavors.

The trick to this salad is slicing everything as thinly as possible. A mandoline is best, but a food processor fitted with the slicing blade will work, too.

2 large English cucumbers

1 small red onion

1 teaspoon salt

¹⁄₂ cup sour cream

2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill

Zest and juice of ¹⁄₂ lemon

¹⁄₂ teaspoon garlic powder

¹⁄₄ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Slice both cucumbers and the onion as thinly as possible, then mix them together in a large bowl. Sprinkle the salt over the vegetables.

Using your hands, gently knead and press the vegetables. Don't crush or mash them, just gently work the vegetables in the bowl.

After 2 to 4 minutes of kneading, there should be a large amount of water in the bowl. Pour off and discard the water.

Stir in the sour cream, dill, lemon zest and juice, garlic powder and black pepper. The salad can be made up to 4 hours in advance. If so, prepare the dressing separately and refrigerate in a separate container from the cucumbers. Just before serving, drain the cucumbers again, then mix in the dressing.

Makes 6 servings.