My favorite farmer at the Tuesday market had some huge cucumbers that he let go on the vine too long so they became yellowish. They were still great to eat, but he figured folks wouldn't by them so he gave them to me. I like the challenge of having an ingredient forced upon me and then figuring out something fun to do with it, so I googled "cucumber" and "salad" and Epicurious had one with shrimp and mangos - yum! Thanks to Trader Joe's we had both of those items in our freezer, so I set them out to defrost and started peeling and de-seeding the cukes. I have never done this before (because I'm lazy), but I recently got an overachieving veggie peeler and then cut them in half scooping out the seeds with a spoon, so it was a breeze. Then I cut all three ingredients into bite sized pieces and started fiddling with dressings. I doused it with a mix of lime juice, a little olive oil, a bit of rice vinegar, a smidge of sea salt and some agave nectar and it tasted very light and yummy. The recipe called for dill, but I thought mint leaves would be better, so I sent Luke to the garden. He brought back a bunch of red cherry tomatoes as well, which I halved and added for some much needed color. Then, because I like a little crunch in my salad, I finished it off with pine nuts. Everybody loved it (which is not always the case, so points for me!)
So there's a day in the life of me and my kitchen. Be inspired! (Many apologies for the poor quality picture and the 1970s yellow countertop.)
(BTW, I've had the idea to write an e-book called The "Choose Your Own Ingredients" Cookbook complete with a variety of "templates" instead of recipes. Consider that statement my attempt to copyright the idea, but we'll see if it actually ever happens...)
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