As I walked through the farmers market this weekend I saw the first pumpkins showing up alongside the still abundant tomatoes and even corn and peppers. I love this time of year where it feels like everything is in season all at once especially zucchini. Except, perhaps, the fresh berries that I will miss. As the corn and peppers give way, we get a short “second season” of greens to pair with the winter squashes that are just coming in. It’s all good, the harvest, the weather, the food.
We got no less than NINE cucumbers in the CSA bag. So, this week, of course I am doing a recipe for cucumbers. The taste of this is not unlike a “fresh pickle.” It uses a LOT of cucumbers
Recipe and entries after the jump.
Cucumber and Red Onion Salad
4-5 medium cucumbers, sliced very thin, using a mandoline or v-slice
2 medium red onions, peeled and also sliced very thin
1 bunch dill, chopped
3/4 cup champagne vinegar
1/4 cup canola oil
3 tbs. sugar
salt and pepper to taste
The key is the very thin slices, made possible by a kitchen tool called the mandoline. If you don’t have one, just slice as thin as you can with a good knife. Mandolines are handy, but dangerous. After losing a side of my thumb, I keep a steel mesh glove handy anytime I use it. Seriously.
Mix the onion and cucumbers in a large bowl. In a small bowl add the dill and the sugar and vinegar. Mix to dissolve the sugar. Add the oil, salt and pepper and whisk to emulsify. Toss with the cucumbers and onions. Allow the flavor to marry for an hour or two in the fridge before serving.
Now, for this week’s entries to Farmers Market Fare. Not a lot this week due to the holiday weekend, so I have picked a few of my favorite sites to highlight with what’s in season right now.
Rachel is tomato-gazing at Olives and Artichokes, with a great recipe there for drying tomatoes.
How to roast peppers at Food Blogga.
Grilling Eggplant by BlogHer’s Kalyn Denny.
Grilled Corn, Jicama and Mango Salad at Pinch My Salt.
Related Posts
Panko Breaded Eggplant
Grilled Corn
Heirloom Tomato and Summer Squash Torte
What can I say – I love my fresh-grown tomatoes. And I just ordered my summer seeds. Peppers, eggplants, squash, pumpkin, melons, watermelons. Yeah, baby. Hmmmm… garden p*rn…
Thanks for including the link to my blog and to the tomato recipe – it really is a delicious way of preserving them! I’ll make the cucumber and red onion salad as we still have some cucumbers in the garden.