Welcome to our weekly series where we’ll let you know what fruit and vegetables are market fresh this week, give you handy storage tips and recipes to make the most of seasonal produce.
Refreshing and cooling, cucumber is a real treat in the heat of Summer. This widely cultivated creeping vine plant produces a long, thin vegetable dark green in colour on the outer skin and pale green inside.
Rich in antioxidants, cucumbers can help reduce inflammation and oxidative stress. They also contain vitamins K and C, promoting bone health and immunity, while cucumber’s fibre content supports digestion and may help lower blood sugar levels, while their silica content benefits skin health.
Made of almost 95 per cent water, cucumbers are the perfect ingredient to add to Summer salads alongside barbeque mains, pickle them for a tangy accompaniment to fish or lamb, or just sprinkle them with salt for an explosion of flavour your taste buds will love.
Introduced to Australia by the First Fleet, the humble cucumber can temper spicy dishes and is great sliced and added to a glass of water for a hydrating drink.
When choosing cucumbers at the supermarket or market, they should be dark green without any yellow spots, which develop as the cucumber becomes overly ripe, often producing off-flavours and odours. You also want to avoid any that have wrinkles, which shows they have been stored for too long or at higher temperatures and have lost their moisture.
As for storage, cucumbers are a perishable rather than a hardy vegetable, you will need to buy them fresh each week. Store cucumbers in the fridge if you are not going to use them immediately. However, they also will deteriorate in the fridge as cucumbers are prone to chilling injury after two to three days at cold temperatures. They should never be frozen as they will turn brown and gelatinous.
Waxed or wrapped cucumbers will keep chilled for a week or two if wrapped loosely in plastic and stored in the crisper. Once you have cut the cucumber and you have some leftover, tightly wrap it in plastic wrap and store in a plastic bag in the fridge – use as soon as possible.
Here are three recipes for you to enjoy cucumbers this week at home:
A refreshing burst of flavours, this Summer salad combines the delicate taste of salmon with the crunch of cucumber, radish and sourdough croutons, all bound together by fluffy couscous.
Crispy chickpeas add a crunchy texture to this healthy Summer salad of rocket, cucumber, celery and tahini, which is ideal paired with an alfresco barbeque with family and friends to while away balmy days and nights.
You won’t believe how easy it is to whip up this delicious dinner. Fresh, light and bursting with vibrant Thai flavours, try this recipe for succulent chicken breasts topped with a zesty salsa of pineapple, chilli, cucumber, honey and lime.
