Lemon Cucumbers

One of the most fun things about CSA programs is that occasionally I encounter items that I’ve never seen before. Pleasant surprises in the past include mizuna, cranberry beans, and garlic scapes. This time, when I saw lemon cucumbers on the produce list, I selected it, expecting a regular cucumber with yellow skin.

Nope! They’re yellow in color and somewhat lemon-like in size. When I first looked in my box, I briefly mistook them for potatoes. Looks like a cucumber on the inside, though! I wasn’t sure what to do with them, so I searched for recipes, and this recipe jumped at me. I ended up really barely following it. I didn’t have any yogurt, so I used mayonnaise. I’ve been eating a lot of eggs and potatoes for breakfast, so I skipped those and put in some leftover pasta instead. My very casually written recipe is below. Fresh, sweet corn + cherry tomatoes + lemon cucumbers = yum!

Summer Pasta Salad
serves as many as you want

salad ingredients:
1 can tuna, drained
2 lemon cucumbers, chopped
1 small bell pepper, chopped
1/3 red onion, minced
roasted red peppers
cherry tomatoes
1 ear corn
cilantro, chopped
2 Tbsp lime juice
1 cup pasta, cooked
salt and pepper, to taste

dressing ingredients:
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tsp Dijon mustard
a dash of Tabasco sauce
1 tsp dried tarragon
1/2 tsp dried dill

1. The corn can be cooked any way you want. I remove the husk down to one layer, get the ear wet, wrap a damp paper towel around it, then microwave for 5 minutes. Remove remaining husk, cut kernels with a knife, taking care not to include the cob.

2. Mix dressing ingredients together in a small bowl.

3. Mix all of the vegetables and tuna together in a large bowl. Add lime juice. Stir in dressing. Add salt and pepper (optional). Refrigerate.

~N