Salting Summer Squash and Cucumbers

[chrysanthemum]

Sometimes for a particular recipe, I’ll slice zucchini or cucumbers and salt down the pieces and let them drain in my salad spinner for a while to remove liquid that would make a preparation too moist.  Sometimes I save the salted water (which can be quite salty), dilute it with regular water, and drink it as a rehydration drink to replenish electrolytes.

 The other day I was making a cucumber salad with a yogurt dressing, and my homemade yogurt wasn’t as thick as I wanted.  I have a reusable coffee filter that I use as a very fine strainer, and I used it to strain whey off of my yogurt.  When I combined the whey with the cucumber water I had drained, I really liked the result.  I just thought I’d mention it to this group because gardeners and farmers often need to be careful with hydration, and I found it to be an acceptably tasty and healthful way to use my “waste” from meal preparation.

I’ve had so many slicing cucumbers in recent days that I have also made some cucumber purée cubes to preserve it.  When they were frozen, I popped them out and stored them in a freezer bag.  I’ll add a couple of these to water or lemonade or limeade, and I figure it’s also a way to stretch out my cucumber season longer into my tomato season, and I can add some cubes to gazpacho.  I have more slicers in the fridge waiting for me to decide just what I’m going to do with them.  I might default to more purée since it’s super easy.

[Deleted]

Very good idea, indeed. Got a recipe for that cucumber salad?

[chrysanthemum]

Here’s a link to what I used for inspiration.  There are a couple different cucumber salads on the website.

www.recipetineats.com/creamy-cucumber-salad-lemon-yogurt-dressing/

I salted and drained the cucumbers during the time that I was straining the yogurt and mixing up the dressing.  I made quite a large batch, and I think it really helped keep the salad crisp in the refrigerator for an extra day or two.

[Deleted]

Thanks! It makes perfect sense to drain those cukes with salt and I probably never would have thought about it if you hadn't posted.  

[heavyhitterokra]

Those ideas sound awesome! I'll bet the cucumber cubes would complement a good homemade batch of pico de Gallo. I grow jalapenos, every year, just for that ... We'll that, and homemade sriracha. Life without sriracha would be almost unbearable.