Last week a good friend was in town for his annual medical conference. I wanted to show him real Mexican food, so I took him to a grocery store/restaurant in South Phoenix called Ranch Market/Tradiciones. We spent about a half hour in the grocery store, taking in the various aguas frescas, ceviches, peppers, and other exotic Latin produce. Then we headed over to the restaurant for dinner.
I hate Tex-Mex, but I love real Mexican food. I had chicken mole enchiladas, and my friend had carne asada. And what I really enjoyed…was the cucumber-jicama margarita! It was crisp, refreshing, and the perfect complement to a wonderful dinner.
And that got me thinking about cucumbers. They don't really get much credit as a food, they're mostly water, not many calories…tend to be something dieters overdo when they're overly restrictive. I used to belong to a community supported agriculture group and during the two weeks when cucumbers were in season I got so many in my bag that I ended up living on cucumber sandwiches.
Curious, I decided to learn more. And, delightfully, I learned that for PCOS, especially if it's affecting your skin, they may actually have some therapeutic benefit! The following excerpt comes from one of my favorite websites, www.whfoods.com:
The silica in cucumber is an essential component of healthy connective tissue, which includes muscles, tendons, ligaments, cartilage, and bone. Cucumber juice is often recommended as a source of silica to improve the complexion and health of the skin, plus cucumber's high water content makes it naturally hydrating—a must for glowing skin. Cucumbers are also used topically for various types of skin problems, including swelling under the eyes and sunburn. Two compounds in cucumbers, ascorbic acid and caffeic acid, prevent water retention, which may explain why cucumbers applied topically are often helpful for swollen eyes, burns and dermatitis.
I did look for a cucumber margarita recipe to share, but was not successful. Apparently they are available in other restaurants, so keep an eye out. If you're juicing at home, why not throw a cucumber in with your other fruits and vegetables? Add them here and there in salads, and sandwiches.
Hopefully your skin will give this blog post a glowing review…
Most people tend to think of soup as a winter/comfort food. I love it year round, but especially in the summer. I use my slow cooker, which doesn't heat up the kitchen. I have a week's worth of lunches or dinners when I'm finished, which I can heat in the microwave. Neither of those appliances heat up my kitchen. Plus, it's a great way to take even more advantage of summer's bounty and all of the related antioxidants. For me, a pretty perfect meal is a fresh salad with a vinaigrette dressing, a bowl of soup, a piece of hearty whole grain bread, and some fresh fruit for dessert. Tonight I'm making a red pepper/cauliflower soup and enjoying some of this week's very cheap cherries for dessert. Here is the recipe. And I'm putting some of my other favorites below. If you want something cooler, I'm giving you recipes for gazpacho and cucumber soup.
Bon appetit!
Red Pepper-Cauliflower Soup (adapted from Sunset Magazine)
6 large red bell peppers,stemmed and cored, halved lengthwise, and pressed flat 1 tablespoon olive oil 4 shallots, peeled and choped 1 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon cayenne 1 quart fat-skimmed chicken broth 1 head cauliflower, cut into florets 1 teaspoon sugar freshly ground pepper extra-virgin olive oils, chopped fresh chives, and lemon wedges (optional)
1. Preheat broiler to high. Arrange bell pepper skin side up on baking sheet. Broil, watching carefully, until skins are blackened,about 10 minutes. Remove peppers from oven and let cool. Peel over a bowl to collect juices; set peppers and juices aside.
2. In a large pot over medium-high heat, warm olive oil. Add shallots, salt, and cayenne and cook, stiorring until soft, 3 minutes. Add broth and cauliflower. Bring to a boil, then lower heat to as immer. Cover and cook 20 minutes. Add peppers with juices and cook, covered, until cauliflower is tender, 10 minutes. Puree in batches in a blender and add sugar. add pepper to taste.
3. Serve hot or cold, garnished with a drizzle of olive ol, some chives, and a squeeze of lemon juice of you like.
Chicken and Corn Summer Chowder (from Sunset Magazine)
2 slices turkey bacon, chopped (I used an apple-smoked ham hock) 1 onion, chopped 3 tbsp flour 1 lb. Yukon gold potatoes, chopped 6 cups reduced-sodium or homemade chicken broth 4 cups shredded cooked chicken (you can get this pre-cooked to make it easy) kernels cut from 3 ears corn 1/4 to 1/2 cup Greek yogurt 2 medium tomatoes, seeded and chopped 1 avocado, pitted, peeled, and chopped 1 cup loosely packed cilantro leaves 2 limes cut into wedges freshly ground black pepper
1. In a large, heavy pot over medium-high heat, cook bacon until fat renders and meat starts to brown. (Alternately, place ham hock into soup at last stage). Add onion, reduce heat to medium, and cook until soft, about 3 minutes. Sprinkle with flour and cook, stirring, until flour smells cooked (like baked pie crust) but hasn't started to brown, about 3 minutes.
2. Add potatoes and broth. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to keep mixture simmering and cook until potatoes are barely tender, about 5 minutes. Add chicken and corn and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and stir inyogurt to taste. Heat through, about 2 minutes. Serve in soup bowls, garnished with tomatoes, avocado, cilantro, a squirt or two of lime juice, and pepper to taste.
Summer Gazpacho (from Sunset Magazine)
4 lbs. tomatoes, cored 1 1/2 lbs. cucumbers, washed and scrubbed tomato juice base: 3 cups tomato juice, 3/4 cup red wine vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon pepper 2 large bell peppers, 1 yellow and 1 green, stemmed and seeded 1/2 cup diced onion 1 large firm-ripe avocado 1 tablespoon lemon juice 1 cup Greek yogurt
Chop 3 tomatoes and 1 cucumber. Fill a blendor or food processor with vegetables; with motor running add enough of the tomato juice base to smoothly puree mixture. Pour mixture into a large bowl or tureen. If needed, puree any remaining chopped vegetables. Add to tureen with any remaining tomato base.
Cut remaining tomatoes, cucumbers, and bell peppers into about 3/8 inch cubes. Add to bowl along with onion; mix.cover, and chill until cold, about 2 hours, or up to 1 day.
Peel, pit, and slice avocado into 10 to 12 wedges; coat wedges with lemon juice. Stir gazpacho and ladle into wide soup bowls; top with avocado slices and spoonfuls of yogurt. Offer olive oil to drizzle into portions to taste; season to taste with salt. Makes 9 or 10 servings.
Cold Cucumber Soup (adapted from Emeril Lagasse) 6 pounds cucumbers (about 6 cucumbers), peeled, seeded, and coarsely chopped (12 cups) 2 yellow bell peppers, stem and seeds removed, coarsely chopped 4 green onions, chopped 2 jalapeno peppers, minced 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh mint 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh dill 3 to 4 garlic cloves, mashed to a paste with 1 teaspoon salt 2 teaspoons Essence, recipe follows 1 1/2 teaspoons salt 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper 6 cups plain Greek yogurt 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 2 teaspoons white wine vinegar 2 tablespoons minced fresh chives
Directions
Combine the cucumbers, bell peppers, green onions, jalapenos, cilantro, mint, dill, garlic, Essence, salt, cayenne, yogurt, 2 cups sour cream, olive oil, and white wine vinegar in a large bowl. Working in batches, puree the ingredients in a blender until very smooth. Transfer the soup to the refrigerator until well chilled, at least 2 hours. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary. Serve the soup, with each bowl garnished with a dollop of the remaining sour cream and some of the minced chives.
Emeril's ESSENCE Creole Seasoning (also referred to as Bayou Blast):
I just tried all of these and they are so easy to prepare and absolutely yummy
Cucumber Watercress Soup 3 1/2 cups cucumber juice (4-6 cucumbers) 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice 1/2 bunch fresh watercress 3 cloves garlic, peeled 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 tsp sea salt
Using a juicer, juice the cucumbers. In a high speed blender, combine all of the ingredients and blend until smooth *I added some fresh dill and parsley to this recipe and chose not to use salt, you can try either way
