Specials Board: Three Cucumbers Salad with Basil & Lime Dressing

Three Cucumber Salad & Vegan Mofo Day 5

This year has been a mixed bag where cucumbers are concerned. I have tried to grow three varieties, and all three have had their difficulties. The Cucamelons took so long to germinate, I nearly gave up on them two times but I kept persevering and gave them the love and attention they obviously need and finally the little seedlings started poking through the soil. Once the plants grew stronger there was no stopping them. The plants didn't have a great deal of foilage but I have been lucky enough to harvest twice so far and I think I'll get one more harvest from the three plants that I kept. I gave a couple of plants away to, so out of the 10 seeds I was lucky enough to have 5 healthy plants. Not bad for something that I nearly gave up on twice! 

The other two varieties I grew weren't as good! The Lemon Crystal Cucumber variety the yellow ones in the picture below, were extremely stubborn! Unfortunately I lost 4 plants early in the season, I think I over watered if I'm honest, I was that worried about them being thirsty, with all the dry weather we were fortunate to get, but I probably gave them too much water. Thankfully I gave my Mum two plants and I managed to hold on to another plant. The two plants I gave my Mum have absolutely thrived and she has had lots of cucumbers on her plants. Mine? Absolutely none! Oh well that's the beauty of giving plants away at the start of the season, you get some of the produce back as a thank you!

The third variety I tried to grow, which I've had huge successes with in the past was Marketmore, which is a pretty bog-standard cucumber, but absolutely nothing this year. Even the plants didn't make it, let alone produce any fruit. I was gutted! Absolutely gutted!

To make this three cucumber salad I had to use a shop bought cucumber too, but it was in the reduced items area so I didn't mind. Plus Marco LOVES cucumber so he got a treat too!

Now, I can hardly call this a recipe when all the dish consists of is three types of cucumber and some lettuce from my garden! So to perk it up I created a tangy and upbeat dressing to go along with it.

Basil & Lime Dressing

Ingredients - Serves 4-6 (depending on how much dressing you like on your salad)
100ml Soy yoghurt
20 Basil leaves
½ Tsp Dried parsley
1 Tbsp Lime juice
½ Tsp Lime zest, finely grated
10g Cashews
Salt & Pepper to taste

Method
Put all the ingredients into a blender and whiz up into a smooth dressing. Pour over the cucumbers and lettuce.

The cashews will thicken your dressing if left in the fridge but this is then great used as a dip or spread. If you don't want your dressing to thicken then omit the cashews.

Green Smoothie Update

My Green Smoothies to date have mainly been made with fruit and either kale or spinach. However, there are lots of other nutritional green vegetables out there and I needed to investigate. My palette is not quite there yet so I need to still add the fruit to give me a sweeter taste!

Having looked in my fridge after shopping yesterday, it was bursting with fruit and vegetables, I was actually spoilt for choice, but sitting on top was 2 florets of broccoli that looked a little lost. Now, what goes well with broccoli in a smoothie? OK next question what is also green? That was easier to answer, grapes, avocado, peas, etc etc. 

After deliberating for what seemed an age I went with the following.

Ingredients
¼ Cucumber
20 Green grapes
2 Florets of broccoli
1 Clementine peeled

Method

Add the ingredients to your chosen blender with ½ cup of cold water and blend until smooth. Add a sprig of mint for decoration, if you fancy it!

Guest post - Super Green Smoothie

I'd like to introduce a friend of mine, Mark who I met earlier this year at a friends wedding. Mark is also a green smoothie lover, tree hugger and animal lover, so it was no wonder that we made friends. I have no doubt that Mark will be a friend for life, even though he lives on the other side of the world in Australia. Thank goodness for social media!

I asked Mark if he would like to write a guest post and he replied that he would love to! So drum roll please................................

Super Green Smoothie

The health benefits from eating a clean diet high in nutritious green and wholesome super foods are endless. I like to kick start the day with a smoothie that is not only going to give me the energy to keep going until lunch time but also gives me the key health benefits of being Alkalizing, supports liver cleansing and detoxification, aids digestion, maintains bowel regularity, high in protein, provides high dose of Omega 3, is vegan, low gluten, soy free and dairy free PLUS tastes fantastic!

What you will need:
Blender
Ice
600ml Purified water
1/2 cup Cucumber
1/2 Lime
1/4 bunch parsley
2-3 sprigs of mint leaves
5-6 green grapes (adjust to your desire of sweetness)
1 table spoon of Chia seeds
Organic Pea and brown rice protein ( I use an Australian brand called Nutra life whole+ organic protein which is a blend of both pea and brown rice)
Liver detoxification powder (found in all good health food stores- I use an Australian brand called Nutra life Detox & cleanse)

Method 
Add all ingredients to the blender and blend until all ingredients have combined into a beautiful super green smoothie!

This recipe is so adaptable to your needs and tastes. If you like it sweeter add more fruit such as a banana or blue berries. 

You could also give it an extra boost by adding your favourite spirulina or chlorella powder for an ultimate energy and alkalizing effect!!

Enjoy!

Thanks for sharing Mark. I've tried your green smoothie this morning and I love it. The lime and mint combination is awesome.

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