Cooking with Mumu: [Update] There are 3 new posts in "Simply Recipes"

Here is the Simply Recipes update for cookingwithmumu@gmail.com

Cucumber Salad
Lemon Cucumbers
Stuffed Zucchini with Turkey Sausage

There are 3 new posts in "Simply Recipes"

Cucumber Salad

About this time of year we start having cucumber salads almost every night with dinner. The cucumbers are growing a bit out of control in the garden, climbing up the tomato cages and all over the zinnias that line the raised beds. Every other day I bring in a handful, peel them and chop them up for a simple salad consisting of nothing more than the cucumbers, some rice vinegar, either dill or basil, and salt and pepper. You don't even really need the herbs; cucumbers are crunchy and cool with just some vinegar, salt and pepper. But added dill or chopped fresh basil will elevate this simple cucumber salad to something just a bit more interesting. I like adding a mix of regular basil and Thai basil (the one that tastes somewhat licorice-y).

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Lemon Cucumbers

Have you ever seen a lemon cucumber? They're called "lemon" not because of any taste, but because they are about the size of a lemon and yellow-colored when ripe. I've been growing them for the last several years, planting them at the base of the tomatoes, so they can creep along the floor of the garden beds, in-between the peppers, basil, and marigolds. I have yet to see them in any regular market, but often you can find them at farmers markets in the summer. They have a lovely, mild taste, even when quite mature, and the skins are relatively thin, so many people serve them with peels on. I usually peel mine, because I pick them straight from the garden and they have tiny little prickles that rub off easily, but will poke you if you aren't careful (like garden-picked zucchini).

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Stuffed Zucchini with Turkey Sausage

Just got back from the BlogHer conference to find a 3 pound zucchini in the garden! Fortunately I remembered this recipe from our recipe archive (originally posted in August 2007). Have a favorite stuffed zucchini recipe? Please let us know about it in the comments. ~Elise

If you grow zucchini in your garden, and you're the kind of wonderful person who brings your neighbors a share of your bounty, and such bounty includes foot-long several pound zucchinis, might I suggest that you include a recipe to accompany such a welcome gift? I'm not kidding! Seriously, we have such a wonderful neighbor, Pat, who not only brings over freshly picked, glorious produce, but tried and true recipes as well. The following stuffed zucchini recipe is adapted from one that Pat brought us last week, along with a 2-pound zucchini, and we loved it. It tastes like it is stuffed with Italian pork sausage, but the stuffing is actually lean ground turkey with garlic, herbs, and mushrooms. Enjoy.

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