Burmese Cucumbers and Shrimp

 

Cucumbers and Shrimp

I enjoy the taste of cooked cucumbers, especially when they are paired with shrimp. This is a Burmese dish and is very easy to put together.

Cucumber and Onion Salad with Dill

Cucumber and Onion Salad with Dill

Fresh herbs in the supermarket come in big bundles so I made a stir-fry using eggplant and potatoes and flavoured it with dill and used the rest of the bundle for this salad. 

My love for dill began in Toronto in the late 1970s at the home of a girl who was born and raised in Iran. She invited us over for a fabulous dinner, and the one item that stood out that I remember to this day was a pulao she made with steamed Basmati rice that she mixed, by hand, with salt, dill and olive oil.

Recently we went to a French-inspired Vietnamese restaurant and ordered grilled Tilapia flavoured with turmeric and dill. It's an outstanding dish unlike anything I've had before.

This salad can be paired with biryani, pulao or grilled meat, fish or seafood. It would also taste great in a sandwich. I found the recipe on the Epicurious website.

Tzatziki Meatloaf Rollup

Tzatziki

We  recently had gyros-in-a-kit which came with a serving of tzatziki. Just take a look at the nutrition facts for tzatziki...there isn't a better and more delicious condiment for those of us who are watching our carb intake! By making it at home, I was able to cut down the calories per serving to 18 calories, sodium to 20 mg., cholesterol to 2 mg., total carbs to 1.5 g and sugars to 0 g. This I did by using fat-free Chobani Greek yogurt.

Chobani Greek Yogurt

But what is tzatziki, you ask? It's a staple in Turkish, Greek and other Mediterranean cuisine, made simply by combining yogurt with garlic and cucumber, along with a few other seasonings. In Indian cuisine, it's called cucumber raita. The rich and creamy texture of tzatziki is perfect for dipping raw vegetables, to serve alongside biryani or pulao, grilled meats like kebabs or to use as a sandwich spread. 

Clockwise from top left:
Meatloaf
Tortilla layered with lettuce & tzatziki
Slice of meatloaf
Tzatziki Meatloaf Rollup

For lunch today we had meatloaf sandwiches for which flour tortillas were lined with lettuce, slathered with tzatziki and topped with a slice of meatloaf. It's the best sandwich I've had in a long, long time.

Kid-Friendly Corn Salsa

Kid-Friendly Corn Salsa

I've labeled this kid-friendly because I've purposely omitted green onions and hot 'n spicy chilies. All it takes is a package of frozen corn (thawed overnight in the fridge), a seedless cucumber, tomatoes, salt and lime juice. Tossed together in a bowl, it makes a perfect side dish for a picnic or Mother's Day brunch. If this is being made for adults, all optional ingredients are a must to bump up the flavor.

1 (16 oz.) pkg. frozen corn kernels, thawed

1 beefsteak tomato, diced

1 seedless cucumber, peeled & diced

1 shallot, diced (optional)
1 green chili, diced (optional)

2 small or 1 large sweet red pepper, diced (optional)

salt to taste

juice of 1 lime

Toss it all in a bowl and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Cucumber and Shrimp Bites

Cucumber & Shrimp Morsels

These crunchy morsels are very quick and easy to assemble and make the perfect side dish at any meal. I used ready-cooked salad or baby shrimp, English (seedless) cucumbers and jalapeno flavored cream cheese. The drop of Sriracha sauce gives the perfect touch to these yummy appetizers.

Beet & Cucumber Raita

Beet & Cucumber Salad with Yogurt Dressing

After cooking dinner yesterday, there were half a tub of greek yogurt and half a seedless English cucumber left, so I prepared this quick and easy salad. It is refreshing and cools the palate during an Indian meal.  

Cucumber Raita (Salad) with Dill & Mint

Raita is usually made with yogurt, mint and cucumber, all ingredients that are cooling to the body. Raita is often served cold as part of a festive Indian meal to help cut the heat in spicy dishes. The cucumber in this salad can be replaced with shredded carrots & raisins, chopped & blanched spinach, or a salsa of diced onions, tomatoes & green chilies. Unlike a salad which is eaten as a first course, Raita is eaten along with the different courses of an Indian meal.

Red Lentils with Cucumbers

Masoor Dal with Cucumbers

Mum's favourite way of preparing red lentils was with onions, tomatoes & garlic. She would sometimes add cucumbers to it, but always peeled them. As a shortcut, I decided to leave them unpeeled and was surprised at how good it tasted. The cucumbers retained their shapes, added a bite and weren't mushy at all.