I am in love with having a garden. I mean, it’s nothing fancy and yes the strawberry plant was a bomb as were a few of the herbs, but the cucumbers, let me tell you about the cucumbers….we get a few large ones each week and it is SO fun to watch them grow. Cucumber is hardly my favorite veggie but hey I’ll take it.
I have made this quick side dish several times. We really enjoy it (I reserve some slices for the kids to eat plain because sesame oil and red pepper just isn’t their thing). Some people don’t think of cucumbers as the most nutritious vegetable, but they’re not exactly bad for you! They are actually high in vitamin C, vitamin A, vitamin K, folate, potassium and some antioxidants. If you eat the skin, they are also a good source of fiber.
The best part in my book is that they help fill your belly (due to the high water content) on hardly any calories (I’m talking crazy low- like 14 calories per 1 cup of cucumbers) so don’t hesitate to make a side dish such as this when it’s a heck of a lot better than eating a plate of buttered and creamed potatoes. Right? Right.
Feel free to use English cucumbers or the regular ol’ garden variety such as the ones shown here. I chose to remove my peel because the skin on our cucumbers has been on the bitter side.
Before you print out the recipe, tell me what are you making this week! Remember you don’t have to plan a full week of meals to comment!
We had another great weekend away in St. Louis so I did a lot of fun food shopping at Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s and Costco. All of the dreamy food places we don’t have here. I mostly bought fun things, not the weekly staples….and since we are lacking restaurants here in Fort Leonard Wood, when we go to St. Louis we all pig out. When I get home Sunday I hardly want to think about cooking for the week so this meal plan will be tentative. How is your week looking?
Menu for the Week of September 18th
Sunday
Variety from our trip- Trader Joe’s Spinach Salad with Raspberry Dressing, Asian Wraps from Costco, Hummus/Crackers, Yogurt & Fruit for kids
Monday
Breakfast tacos, Slaw, Fruit Salad
Tuesday
Broccoli Cheese Soup, Walnut Cranberry Bread (soccer practice)
Wednesday
Crock Pot Chicken Chili, Side Salad, Tortillas
Thursday
Leftovers, maybe quesadillas for the kids
Friday
Girls Night Out
Saturday
? Maybe Lamb, Roasted Potatoes with Garlic Aioli, Veggies
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Marinated Cucumbers
INGREDIENTS:
3 cups cucumbers, peeled, sliced and halved
2 Tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
Red pepper, couple shakes
DIRECTIONS:
1. Place your cut cucumbers in a small serving bowl. In another small bowl whisk together rice wine, honey and sesame oil. Pour dressing over cucumbers. Season with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes and toss together. Best if let to marinate for at least an hour in the fridge, but can also be eaten immediately. Toss before serving.
Recipe from Nutritious Eats
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So glad you posted this recipe. At my sons football games everyweek at 12:00 it is a MAJOR no no to bring your own food and not purchase the teams consessions so every week with two ravenous kids I struggle to find something healthy (not the standard frito pie) Anyway at the game this week we got some huge marinated cucumbers and they LOVED them. So my to do was to find a good recipe that wasn’t overly sour. I will give this a try. I have decided to try and lose the blasted last five lbs so I am going to try and eat vegan for the next few weeks (with the help of Britt:)). My hope is to drastically drop the animal consumption, not go totally vegan for good. But it is hard not to question my food choices when you are observing one of you best friends treat an autoimmune disease purely with her food choices.
So here is the meals for our week.
Sun–Not eating Vegan yet, Roasted pork loin, mashed potatoes, basil carrots, roasted cauliflower with fresh raspberries with light vanilla icecream
Mon-start of the vegan diet Vegan French lentil Vegetable soup modified from Ina Garten’s recipe. Doubled for the Smiths
Tues-Spaghetti and meatballs. The meatballs have zucchini and are made with quinoa instead of bread crumbs. I will have pasta with sauce and veggies
Wed- Leftovers
Thursday- Mexican lettuce wraps I am going to mix up your turkey lettuce wraps and use quinoa and beans instead of the turkey. We have a stretched taco meat my family prefers so I will just see what they think without any meat.
Friday-homemade Pizza night. I a going to make regular pizza for the family and I got artichokes and sundried tomatoes for mine. I am planning to just leave cheese off mine, but might explore some fake cheese options if I am craving a cheese like food for my palate.
Saturday–Cock pot vegan chili with some sort of bread.
Ok Gretchen- you will have to let me know if your boys eat them. I would be be shocked. Mine just really dislike asian flavors and of course the red pepper would be a no go. My hubby and I love this side though. I’ve been making it weekly. Good luck with your vegan experiment!
Last week I made Asian lettuce wraps for the first time and they turned out well.
Monday- Sauteed Pork loin, baked sweet potato, roasted zuchinni
Tuesday- roast in the crock pot, sauteed spinach
Wednesday- chicken and cilantro wontons(Costco), Quinoa “Fried Rice”(new recipe), steamed sugar snap peas
Thursday- BBQ sandwiches with leftover roast, cole slaw, corn on the cob
Friday- Fajitas
I’ve had those wontons- they are yummy! I made the sauce (recipe that is on the package) and it was really good.
LOVE marinate cucumbers and didn’t have a recipe until now. Also, your black bean burgers were a hit! I’ve always wanted an excuse to buy tahini! And a note about your slaw…I am still making it b/c it is an easy way for me to eat crucifers. But this time, I did it with no oil and no sugar. I added lots of carrots (that I chopped in the Cuisinart) for sweetness. It is still fabulous! My twice a week or so lunch is still romaine with hummus, slaw and a few peppers all wrapped up. (I am leaving out avocado most days so I can have those calories elsewhere)
On to meal planning!
Sunday: Your black bean burgers on gf buns with guac on them and a side of slaw. (SO good!)
Monday: Gretchen’s French Lentil Soup!!
Tuesday: “Tacos” I am making with quinoa and black beans instead of meat. We shall see! I am hoping the kids will just enjoy the dark meat looking stuff at the bottom of their shells instead of questioning it! Of course mine will be on greens instead of a shell.
Wednesday: Leftovers!
Thursday: Cauliflower and potato mash with roasted Brussels Sprouts and fruit. (my kids are weird and love Brussels sprouts…or at least they used to. We shall see!)
Friday: Gf pizza night, of course! I adore, adore vegan pizza now! Gretchen, go without cheese! Subs are NOT very good and it is super just as is. Load up the artichoke hearts and sundried tomatoes, broccoli, peppers, peppercinis, kalamatas,etc…
Saturday: I think Luck and I are going to try making Indian food. We usually cook something fun together on the weekend as he always has the energy to cook and I have the ideas. We are going to try Aarti Sequiera’s chickpea masala (http://www.aartipaarti.com/2011/09/14/chickpea-curry-for-lil-bug-aka-chana-masala/). Guessing we will have grilled cheese ready for the kids on this one! Ha!
I love tahini. You know you can mix it with water to create a sauce- season with garlic (or garlic powder), salt if you want and it’s great on falafel. Just a substitute for the tzatziki sauce. I agree- if you are going to give up cheese, it’s probably best just to give it up. I haven’t met an alternative I really like. Aarti has yummy looking recipes- have only tried a few. Good luck!
Brennyn and I love cucumbers ! I found a great Greek Yogurt dip that we eat them with for an afternoon snack.
Sunday – Baked potatoes with pulled pork and fixins.
Monday- New recipe, Broccoli, Cheddar and Ham Strata
Tuesday- Chicken Breast with a cornbread salad (new recipe)
Wed- Lettuce tacos
Thurs- no idea 🙂 maybe left overs or sandwiches
Fri- we may go to the Comal County Fair but if not pizza w/salad or orange chicken w/egg rolls. Friday = Frozen Meal Nite
I’ve been craving baked potatoes! Totally meant to put them on the menu this week. Will have to wait til next week. 🙂