Tag Archives: cucumber

Cucumber Cream Cheese and Cilantro-Mint Chutney Sandwich Recipe

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When the weather is nice, we will pack ourselves some sandwiches and lemonade and have a little picnic in our back yard. These cucumber, cream cheese, cilantro-mint chutney sandwiches are our favorite. I’ve made these for several picnics and I really dont know anyone who doesnt like them.

We used to get these sandwiches in India – white bread spread with a little butter, cilantro mint green chutney, and cucumber slices. It is India’s version of English tea sandwiches. I like to use cream cheese in this sandwich recipe; it goes great with the cucumbers and chutney.

Cucumber Cream Cheese and Cilantro-Mint Chutney

Sandwich Recipe

Makes 4 whole or 8 half sandwiches

½ an English seedless cucumber (the one with the plastic wrap)
8 slices of white or soft wheat bread
8 tablespoons cream cheese at room temperature, I used the low fat kind.
½ cup cilantro mint chutney. Recipe below.
Salt

Cut the cucumber into thin rounds.

Take 2 slices of bread. Spread 1 tablespoon cream cheese on one slice. Spread 1 teaspoon (or more if you like) chutney over the cream cheese. Arrange 4-5 slices of cucumber on top. Sprinkle a tiny pinch of salt over the cucumbers.

Spread one tablespoon cream cheese and then one teaspoon cilantro mint chutney on the other slice of bread. Place this on top of the cucumbers, to make a sandwich. Repeat for all bread slices.

Spreading the cream cheese first, and then the chutney will prevent the chutney from soaking through the bread. Serve immediately.

Cilantro Mint Chutney Recipe
Makes about 1/2 cup, enough for 4-6 sandwiches

1 cup cilantro leaves, tightly packed
1/2 cup mint leaves, tightly packed
1/2 fresh green chili or Thai hot pepper, chopped*
1/8 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 garlic cloves, peeled
1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
Salt
2 tablespoons water

*This makes a spicy hot chutney. Use less chili or leave it out if you don’t want it spicy.

Place all ingredients in a food processor and process into a smooth sauce, scraping down the sides of the food processor now and then.

If you are using a blender, you may need to use a little more water. Store the chutney in an air tight container in the fridge.

Cold Spiced Buttermilk Drink with Cucumber

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Spiced, salted buttermilk drink, also called mor, sambaram, majjige or chaas, is a popular thirst quencher in India. At its humblest form, this drink can simply be buttermilk served with a pinch of salt. I’ve added a little twist by using some refreshing, crunchy bits of cucumber in this recipe. With all the ginger, cumin and asafoetida in this drink, its also a great digestive.

If you dont have buttermilk, you could use 1 part yogurt and 1 part water. Or just thin out yogurt to your liking.

Similar spiced buttermilk recipes:

Sambharam, majjige or mor recipe on Edible Garden
Spiced buttermilk recipe on Vegetable Platter
Majjiga or salted yogurt drink recipe on Sailu’s Kitchen
Spicy buttermilk on Aayis Recipes

Spiced Buttermilk Drink with Cucumber (chaas, mor, moru, majjige, sambaram) Recipe

serves about 2

2 cups buttermilk (or 1 cup yogurt diluted with 1 cup water)
1/8th teaspoon cumin  seeds
4-6 curry leaves
1 teaspoon sized knob of ginger, peeled
1 small green chilli or according to taste, optional
2 sprigs of cilantro
a pinch of asafoetida
salt

2 tablespoons finely chopped cucumber

Pour the buttermilk into a bowl and set aside. In a mortar and pestle, roughly pound the cumin seeds, curry leaf, ginger, chilli, cilantro and asafoetida. Add the pounded spices to the buttermilk and add salt. Stir well. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour so the flavors marry. Strain before serving and garnish with chopped cucumbers.

Tomato, Roasted Red Pepper and Olive Gazpacho with Creme Fraiche

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This has to be one of those recipes where I say “If I give you the recipe I have to shoot you”. Because its that good. But because I love you all, I will share this recipe with you, without any shooting involved.

Summer may be winding down, but its still super hot. This easy to make, raw, cold, refreshing gazpacho is just what you need to beat the heat. If you like this tomato and roasted red pepper gazpacho recipe, be sure to check out my other no-cook recipes.

If you are entertaining, serve the gazpacho in mini martini glasses or shooter glasses. For a more casual meal, simple bowls or mugs will be perfect.

A dollop of creme fraiche adds richness to this gazpacho. Creme fraiche is a thick soured cream from France. It tastes a little like sour cream, but thicker and richer. Substitute creme fraiche with sour cream or thick yogurt. Vegans can use coconut cream to top their Gazpacho..remember Aarti made gazpacho with coconut milk on the next food network star?! 

For some variations, check out Matt Bite’s two Gazpacho recipes. There is a gorgeous gazpacho recipe on Simple Recipes. This almond gazpacho recipe in La Tartine Gourmande looks unique. However you make it, Gazpacho is a quick, easy, no-cook summer soup that you will love. Make a meal out of it or take it along on a picnic!

Tomato, Roasted Red Pepper and Black Olive Gazpacho with Creme Fraiche

inspired by Ina Garten’s gazpacho recipe
serves about 6

2 large ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 small cucumber peeled, seeded, roughly chopped
1 red pepper or store bought roasted red pepper, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons pitted black olives (or green olives)
2 cloves garlic, peeled
6 basil leaves

one 11oz can tomato juice (I used Campbells)
a few drops Tabasco sauce, or to taste, optional
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar or any other type of vinegar or lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper

for topping

6 tablespoons creme fraiche or sour cream
a few basil leaves cut into strips

Place tomato, cucumber, red pepper, olives, garlic in a blender or food processor. Pulse to a coarse puree. Add basil, tomato juice, tabasco, vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper. Pulse once or twice till everything is well combine. Cover and refrigerate the gazpacho. Serve chilled, topped with basil and creme fraiche. Gazpacho tastes better the next day!

My Grandmother’s Multicolored Mixed Vegetable Raita

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My two grandmother’s could not be more different.  One has a PhD, was a career woman and takes pride in the fact that she ‘cant boil a kettle of water’. She is a connoisseur of fine food, but never enters the kitchen herself. My other grandmother works miracles in the kitchen. She can effortlessly turn out simmering pot after pot of the most delectable sambars, kuzhambus, rasams, poriyals, and kootus. She instilled in me a love for cooking; and not a week goes by when I’m not on the phone with my grandmother asking for recipes, techniques or clarifications. As different as they are from each other, both my grandmothers are remarkable women, and I continue to learn so much from them.

 My grandmother (the non-cooking one!), grandfather,  father and aunt. Late 1950s

 

 

 When its too hot to cook, I always turn to this mixed vegetable raita. Its cool, refershing and there is no cooking involved. I am happy just eating a huge bowl of this for dinner. But this colorful raita will be a great accompaniment to and Indian dinner of rice, roti and curry.

Its easy to remember this recipe – just remember the 6 Cs- cucumber, capsicum, corn, carrot, curd, cherry tomato. Then add pomegranates. Thats it! I didnt use pomegranate seeds in this recipe because I couldnt find any; but I highly recommend you use them!

My grandmother adds salt to the raita only just before serving. If you add salt any sooner, it will draw out the moisture from the vegetables and make your raita watery. And make sure you let the raita sit in the fridge overnight, it tastes much better than eating it right away.

My Grandmother’s Multicolored Mixed Vegetable Raita Recipe

serves about 10 as a side dish

1 large seedless cucumber, the kind with the plastic wrap or 4 small cucumbers (about 3 cups when chopped)
3 medium carrots (about 1 1/2 cups when chopped)
1 small green pepper (about 1/2 cup when chopped)
1 small orange pepper (about 1/2 cup when chopped)
1 cup cherry tomatoes
2 cups drained canned sweet corn
1/2 cup pomegranate seeds (I didnt use, because I couldnt find them)
3 cups yogurt
salt

Peel the cucumber and carrots, and chop into very small pieces. Chop the peppers into tiny pieces as well. Cut each cherry tomato into 2 or 3 pieces.  Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl, except salt. Place the raita in the fridge. Raita tastes better if it sits over night. Add salt just before serving and stir well. Serve chilled.

Double Layer Summer Vegetable Sandwich with Hummus and Pesto

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 double-layer-summer-vegetable-sandwich-with-hummus-and-pesto

 This is an easy sandwich for a sweltering hot day, when you don’t feel like turning on your stove. With all the raw summer vegetables and brown bread, this sandwich is healthy too. Its a double layered sandwich, so its quite filling. I love the combination of creamy hummus and the basil pesto in this sandwich.

basket-of-garden-vegetables

 You’ll need a carrot, some baby radish, cucumber and tomatoes. All you have to do with the vegetables is slice them thin and toss them in olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Store bought hummus (I used Tribe 40 spice hummus) and pesto act as sandwich spreads. Use whatever bread you like. I prefer soft brown bread slices or pita pockets for this.

See my new flexible chopping mat  from Bed Bath and Beyond in the pictures below? I recently bought two of these and  I love them! They’re great if you are cutting a small amount of stuff. They’re flexible, take up no space at all and the best part is, you can throw them in the dish washer! 

hummus-and-veggies-on-sandwich

 You’ll need 3 slices instead of the usual 2 slices of bread. Start with the first slice. Spread some hummus on it. Then pile on the chopped carrots, cucumber and radish. I like to load the sandwich with lots of veggies!

place-second-slice-of-bread-on-top

 Put a little more hummus on the second slice of bread and place it over the veggies, hummus side down. Then spread some pesto on top of the second bread slice. See where I’m going with this?!

assemble-tomatoes-and-third-bread-slice

 Now come the tomatoes. Place them on top of the sandwich. Spread more pesto on the third slice of bread and top the tomatoes with it. I like to put the tomatoes on the top layer of the sandwich and spread pesto on the top slice of bread. The science behind that is that tomatoes taste great with pesto. Just like how I think the vegetables taste great with hummus. So each sandwich layer is assigned its own vegetable-spread pairing!

double-layer-summer-vegetable-sandwich

 Press down on the sandwich gently to compact everything. Then cut it in half. This sandwich will get soggy on you if you let it sitting around. So serve it immediately.

summer-vegetable-sandwich1

Double Layer Summer Vegetable Sandwich with Hummus and Pesto Recipe
makes 3 sandwiches (or 6 if you slice each in half)

9 slices of bread
1 small carrot
4 baby radishes
1/2 an English cucumber
1 small tomato
1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
about 5 tbsp store bought Hummus or enough to spread on the bread slices
about 4 tbsp store bought Pesto or enough to spread on the bread slices
Salt and Pepper
Slice the carrot, radishes, and cucumber into thin slices. You should have about 2 cups (loosely packed) of chopped vegetables in total; chop less if you want fewer veggies in your sandwich. Combine the chopped vegetables with olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper and set aside. Slice the tomato into rounds.

Place one slice of bread on a work surface. Spread about 1 tbsp hummus on it. Arrange the vegetable slices on top. Spread a little more (about 1/2 tbsp) hummus on the second slice of bread and place it hummus side down on the vegetables. Spread about 3/4 tbsp pesto on the second slice of bread. Place tomato slices on top. Spread a little more pesto on a third slice of bread and place it pesto side down on top of the tomatoes.

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