Refrigerator Pickles

I really don't like pickles. The thought of them makes me gag. If I were paid to eat just one pickle, I don't think I could do it. Okay, so I might force myself to choke one down if the prize was big enough - Yes, shamefully, I can be bribed. Nick loves pickles, and since we had so many cucumbers from our CSA box, I whipped a bunch of these. No pickle smell, no cooking required. They keep well.

Refrigerator Pickles
9 cups thinly sliced cucumbers (skins on)
1 cup sliced thin strips green pepper
1 cup sliced thin onion
1 teaspoon celery seed
2 Tablespoons kosher salt
2 cups sugar
1 cup white vinegar

Wash cucumbrs, leave peel on and slice thin. Add green peppers, onion and celery seed.

Combine sugar, salt, and vinegar and stir until completely dissolved. Pour over cucumber mixture. Put in glass jars or tupperware, cover.
Store in refrigerator.

Tangy Cucumber and Avocado Salad

More cucumbers that you can eat? Try this salad. I like the contrast between the crunchy cukes and creamy cados. Very quick to prepare, light and perfect for summer. Admittedly, its not an origianl


Tangy Cucumber and Avocado Salad

2 medium cucumbers, cubed
2 avocados, cubed
4 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons minced green onions (optional)
1/4 teaspoon salt
black pepper to taste
1/4 large lemon
1 lime

In a large bowl, combine cucumbers, avocados, and cilantro. Stir in garlic, onions, salt, and pepper. Squeeze lemon and lime over the top, and toss. Cover, and refrigerate at least 30 minutes.

Fudgie Babies

Just wanted to do a post that is not all fruits and veggies. Sometimes being vegan is just FUDGIE!!!! These are similar to the vegan power bar I posted earlier. The original recipe is:

Fudgie Babies

1 1/3 cup dates
1 1/2 cup almonds (or pretty much any other nut)
1 tsp vanilla
4 T cocoa powder

Combine in food processor and shape into balls.

I also added a spoonful of almond butter, a few more dates, and some water to help them stick together. I wish I would have added a large pinch of salt. I keep them in the fridge individually wrapped, but at room temp they are absolutely FUDGIE!!

Original source is here

Squash Stuff

Let me be honest, I am not a huge squash fan. Have I said that before? I feel like I am repeating myself. What I mean by that, is that I will eat squash, but when given pounds and pounds of squash from my CSA, I am not going to just slice it and cook it every night. I need some inspiration! I found some inspiration from that fat free vegan blog. The first thing I made was a squash soup. I know. It is summer. It is hot. The last thing you want is soup. But, sometimes it is cooler and soup is apropiate. I actually put this together one night and then served it for lunch with some homemade bread. This ended up being pretty good. I am not saying I would prefer it over a nice butternut squash soup in January, but it is a good and healthy way to eat a lot of squash.



And here is Mr Tony. A NON-vegan. I invited him to stay for lunch after swim lessons and told him what we were having and he still agreed. Ms. Jenny was there too but she was not picture. However, she did insist I put this on my blog.



The other thing I made was black bean and squash enchiladas. The author used squash instead of corn for the filling and I thing it was a great idea. Here is a picture:



I may made it a casserole next time, or I may just find better tortillas. To be completely honest, I am extremely unhappy with our tortilla options here. I may have to start making my own. These were another good way to use up some squash. So bummed to hear our CSA was victim to squash bugs...DARN!

Cucumber-Avacado Soup

Let me be honest. I am not a huge cucumber fan. I mean, I like them thinly sliced on a sandwich. In the past, could have used them to make a mean tziki sauce, but what to do with the other 9 cucumbers you got in your CSA box this week. Until next week. When you get 10 more? Well, I have started using them to make a cold soup. Now, I know, I know, that cold soup goes against most everything we as southerners hold dear. Which is why it is a good thing that at least two of you are from "the north". But honestly, cold soup isn't that bad. It is really like a salad. Go with that.

I did do some google searches. I started with a non vegan one and came up with a vegan one. Yay for avacados. I am actually a huge avacado fan. I did a few versions of this, and here is my latest one:

Cucumber-Avacado Soup (guacamole style)

2 cucumbers, peeled and seeds removed
1 avacado
1 jalapeno, seeds removed
1 garlic clove, peeled
handful of cilantro
juice of 1 lime
salt and pepper
cold water as needed

- combined all ingredients in a food processor. Add cold water until desired consisancy.

I made this one time with the Rustic Pasta Amy W posted. (also used up a head of cabbage from the CSA box)



Ok, I actually used 3 cucumbers for that one. It was a little too much cucumber!

One time I made this with the zucchini crab cakes posted by Shannon (except I used some yellow squash).



I can see me whipping this up for lunch one day. It would be good for a raw diet. I am thinking about going "high raw" Ya know, cause being vegan wasn't wierd enough. Any thoughts?

Black bean and quinoa taco salad

This is a very simple one that is good for these hot days! Taco salads are really so versitile, so you could do a lot with this one. The recipe is really for quinoa made with salsa and then add black beans. The kids won't eat the quinoa for some reason, so any time I made a mexican dinner, James gets a cheese quesadilla and Andy just gets a bunch of stuff on his plate to make his own burritos. Hey, whatever works!

Extra tomato (and cucumber) salad

If you have extra tomatoes and/or cucumbers, here's another easy way to use them up....

Ingredients

4 medium/ 3 large tomatoes
1 onion (vidalia is best)
2 green peppers
1 cucumber (optional)
White vinegar (distilled vinegar)
Salt and pepper to taste

Slice the tomatoes, peppers, onions, and cucumbers (if using) in uniform thickness (about ½ inch).

In a nonreactive bowl, combine all ingredients (pepper is better if coarsely ground).

Marinade in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours before serving cold.

Asian cucumber salad

One way to use up all those cucumbers.....

Ingredients
2 whole cucumbers
2 cups rice wine vinegar
1/2 c water
2 tbsp sugar

Slice cucumber into very thin slices. If you have a mandolin - cut the cucumber in 3 inch strips, then mandolin one side until down to the verge of the seeds, then do the other side until down to the verge of the seeds, then each of the sides.

Add rice wine vinegar and sugar. Add enough water to cover the top of the cucumbers (if you need more than ½ cup of water, add some extra rice wine vinegar). Marinade in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours before serving cold.