I dream of having a garden someday soon with an abundance of Mediterranean cucumbers and ripe red tomatoes. In the meantime, I have to make a couple of each of them from the grocery store, when in season, stretch out to last the week. There have been nice organic cukes (not Mediterranean, though) and tomatoes at the store lately, so I’ve been making Cucumber-Tomato salad at least once a week. On Friday, we had it with our hamburgers.
The following recipe isn’t too precise, which is the beauty of this salad. It is all to taste and very forgiving with proportions.
Mediterranean Cucumber-Tomato-Mint Salad
- a couple of nice organic cucumbers in season, peeled and diced (Mediterranean are best)
- a couple of nice organic tomatoes, in season
- 1/2 of an organic onion, diced
- sea salt and pepper, to taste
- organic extra virgin olive oil, to taste
- fresh organic lemon juice, to taste
- dried organic mint, a few generous pinches
Toss all ingredients together in a salad bowl. Best eaten when fresh, although it does keep for up to a day in the refrigerator.
it looks great will have to make some.
This look delicous, Wardeh!
I am off to investigate the difference in Mediterranean cucumbers and the ones I’ve seen at the store…
This looks perfect for hot/warm days.
Hugs, Robin
The pickle mystery (for me) is solved!
English cucumbers can grow as long as 2 feet. They are nearly seedless and are sometimes marketed as “Burpless,” as the seeds give some people gas.
Japanese cucumbers (ky?ri) are mild, slender, deep green, and have a bumpy, ridged skin. They can be used for slicing, salads, pickling, etc., and are available year-round.
Mediterranean cucumbers are small, smooth-skinned and mild. Like the English cucumber, Mediterranean cucumbers are nearly seedless.
Slicers grown commercially for the North American market are generally longer, smoother, more uniform in color, and have a tougher skin. Slicers in other countries are smaller and have a thinner, more delicate skin.
In North America the term “wild cucumber” refers to manroot.
Robin, thanks for doing all this research on the cucumber! Wow! All I knew was that I liked the Mediterranean cukes best. They are yummy.
Love, Wardeh