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.