Cucumber and Radish Yogurt

 Simple and refreshing.  A fast salad great for any rice dish.

Cucumber and Radish Yogurt

3 inches English cucumber

2 radishes

1 spring onion

fresh mint

1 cup of plain yogurt

salt and pepper

Cut up the veg.  Mix with yogurt.  Season.

 Yummy!

Cucumber and Tomato Salad

This salad is is simple and fast to throw together. No one in my family (who eat salad) needs a recipe for this but for those who are new to Italian food may need some help. This salad is great as a side with pasta, or topped on bread as bruschetta. 

Cucumber and Tomato Salad

Cucumber (English or de-seeded)
Tomato
Basil
Olives
Soft Cheese (Feta or Mozzarella)
Olive Oil (1 tsp)
Balsamic Vinegar (1/2 tsp)
Salt and Pepper

Cut up some cucumber and tomato.  Rip up some fresh basil. Add some olives.  Top with cheese, oil and vinegar.  Salt and pepper if you like.

Gochujan Cucumber Salad

 This Gochujan Cucumber salad has a secret but I will share it.  Tahini!  Korean recipes often call for sesame seed salt, which is just toasted and ground sesame seeds.  My pestle and mortar are in KS with my sister so I had the idea just use Tahini.    I used tahini in bulgogi a few time and it works. Tahini and Gochujan mix together so well and they make the perfect not too spicy smooth dressing.

Gochujan Cucumber Salad

1 English Cucumber
1 green onion
1 tsp toasted sesame seeds
1/4 tsp gochujan
1/4 tsp tahini
1 tsp mirin (sweet rice wine vinegar)
1 tsp soy sauce

Mix the gochujan and tahini. Add in the vinegar and soy.  Slice the cucumber and green onion and dress.  Top with the sesame seeds.

This is a great salad for introducing a baby to gochujan...if your baby don't throw the cucumbers on the floor!

Cucumber Raita Gazpacho

Given my love for yogurt and the huge cucumber plant conquering my conservatory it is no surprise that I'm posting a Cucumber Raita Gazpacho. Raita is an Indian yogurt dip made with garlic, mint and cucumber. We eat it all the time and turns out it makes a great gazpacho.
Cucumber Raita Gazpacho
serves 2
1 1/2 English cucumbers pealed
1/2 clove of garlic
5 walnuts
1 Tbs fresh mint
1 tsp lemon basil (optional)
1 tsp olive oil
1/2 cup plain yogurt
salt and white pepper

Chop the cucumbers and garlic. Blend with the walnuts and herbs adding olive oil and yogurt until everything is smooth. Taste and add salt and pepper. For a thinner gazpacho add water or bread for a thicker one. My cucumbers were really juicy so I didn't need to do anything.

Dill Pickle Cucumber Salad

I know posted a recipe for German Cucumber and Radish Salad exactly one month ago today but its summer and I love both cucumbers and salad. Before moving to Ireland I hated cucumbers turns out I just disliked the seeds and thick skins of American cucumbers because English cucumber are great.
This is our cucumber plant. I grew it from seed and it is now trying to conquer our conservatory.
We have picked 5 large cucumbers in the last week. All week we have been living off cream cheese and cucumber sandwiches. I made this Dill Pickle Cucumber Salad to go with hamburgers and no one even bothered to open the jar of dills on the table.
Dill Pickle Cucumber Salad
Serves 3-4
1 English Cucumber (or 2-3 pealed and seeded American ones)
1 Spring Onion
1 Tbs of Fresh Dill
1 tsp Dry Roasted Caraway Seeds
1/2 tsp elderflower vinegar (or apple cider vinegar)
1/2 tsp walnut oil
Salt and Pepper

Slice into thin rounds. Chop the spring onion and dill. Mix all together with the caraway seeds, dress with oil and vinegar. Add salt and pepper to taste.

German Cucumber and Radish Salad

For the last two weeks my sister was visiting us. She said that she did not like radishes, but as her older sister I made her try one and now she loves them. I guess its because the radishes were fresh from the garden. My lettuce and rocket is in and we had a nice little salad every night. We even had radish sandwiches.
But cutting up a few radishes is not really a recipe so I'm posting a German salad which is based on a dill salad dressing packet which my mom used to use when I was child.
German Cucumber and Radish Salad
serves 2
10 radishes
1/3 of a seedless cucumber or 1 whole cucumber de-seeded
1/2 tsp of caraway seeds
1/2 tsp of dried dill
1/2 tsp of walnut or olive oil
1 tsp of lemon
dash of salt and pepper

Thinly slice the radish and cucumber. In a hot pan dry roast the caraway seeds for about 10 sec or until they start to pop. Add the caraway seeds, dill, oil, lemon, salt and pepper. Mix.


This is a very refreshing summer salad. The dressing would also be nice on just cucumbers, daikon radish or boiled potatoes.

Caviar Antipasto

Saeid made some really lovely Antipasto last weekend.
Caviar on Hard Boiled Eggs
2 boiled eggs sliced
top with each egg with 1/4 tsp Caviar
I couldn't let Saeid have all the caviar fun so I made these:
Caviar on Cucumber
1/4 English Cucumber, pealed and sliced
2 Tab Cream Cheese
2 Tab Thick Greek Yogurt
2 Chopped Green Onions
Caviar
Mix the cream cheese and yogurt together. Add the green onions and cover each cucumber slice with 'cream yogurt'. Top with each slice with 1/4 tsp of caviar or capers.

Saeid also made some tasty Italian Antipasto. The hot cherry pepper were my fav!