Contemporary cucumber salad is a trademark of summer season picnics and yard barbecues for many people. Simply-picked, thinly sliced cukes marinated with onions in a vinegar dressing sounds as scrumptious as it’s nutritious! With heat climate and sunshine season upon us, cucumber recipes are a low-cal, refreshing and surprisingly wholesome strategy to get in your every day veggie servings.
Powerhouses of Vitamins, Electrolytes, and Hydration
Do you know that cucumbers are about 96 p.c water? In fact, with all that water they’re undoubtedly hydrating! Maintaining your fluid consumption is important for well being and weight reduction, notably through the warmth of the summer season. Water additionally retains your joints lubricated and provides you power.
Nonetheless, cucumbers are extra than simply crunchy water. With cukes, you additionally get vitamins like magnesium, potassium and nutritional vitamins C and Ok. Should you don’t peel and seed them, you additionally get fiber and beta-carotene. In accordance with one research, cucumber seeds are loaded with calcium.
Bonus: Cukes comprise two plant chemical substances, lignans and cucurbitacins, that will guard in opposition to sure cancers.
Shocking Enjoyable Reality: Cucumbers, like tomatoes, are literally a fruit!
Simple Cucumber Recipes For Contemporary Summer time Meals
Time so as to add some extra cucumber recipes to your repertoire, notably when you’ve got a surplus out of your yard backyard! Listed below are 20 straightforward cucumber recipes you’re going to get pleasure from guilt-free all summer season lengthy.
Complete wheat orzo—a rice-shaped pasta—makes the proper base for wholesome pasta salad recipes when paired with contemporary summer season veggies like cucumber. On this model, we add cucumbers, tomatoes and onions for a completely refreshing summer season salad that may make you go up mayonnaise-y potato salad each time. It’s dressed with a piquant lemon dressing product of lemon juice, zest, olive oil and black pepper. The longest step of this recipe is ready for the orzo to prepare dinner. One serving is 276 energy and counts as one Sensible Carb, half of a PowerFuel, one Additional and one Vegetable serving.
Get the Greek Orzo Summer time Salad recipe.
Cucumbers shine within the creamy avocado salsa that tops this mild, flaky fish dinner. Tilapia is coated in a dry-rub seasoning created from paprika, cayenne, thyme, oregano, garlic, onion powder and black pepper. Sautéed in mild butter, it’s capped with the refreshing salsa that mixes chopped cucumber, purple onions, avocado and lime juice. The recipe makes 4 servings at 210 energy every. One serving counts as one PowerFuel and two Extras.
Get the Blackened Tilapia with Cucumber Avocado Topping recipe.
Cucumber takes the place of bread so you possibly can have two entire deli sandwiches for lunch! Unfold with a wedge of cheese and topped with deli meat, it’s a low-carb and low-calorie lunch that you just’ll need to make daily. One serving is barely 108 energy and counts as one PowerFuel, one Additional and one Vegetable. You may as well be at liberty to get inventive with this one and make various kinds of cucumber sandwich recipes with completely different toppings.
Get the Deli Cucumber Sandwich recipe.
Restaurant and store-bought sushi can conceal a great deal of energy. Making your personal retains it mild and wholesome. This inventive tackle sushi turns it right into a tower with your entire favourite elements. Tower development is straightforward: Begin with a candy and savory mango-cuke combination, adopted by chopped sushi-grade tuna, avocado and spicy brown rice. Refrigerate for half-hour earlier than flipping it over and serving with a sprinkling of black sesame seeds. This dish for stylish palates may be served over veggie noodles, a salad or eaten as is for less than 295 energy. On Nutrisystem it counts as one SmartCarb, one PowerFuel and two Extras.
Get the Sushi Tuna Tower recipe.
Did now we have you at “3-Ingredient?” This can be one of many best cucumber snack recipes for weight reduction! Partially peel a cucumber, slice it into sticks and mud each with chili lime seasoning and Pink Himalayan salt. Eat. It’s that easy and delish! One serving is barely 40 energy and counts as one limitless Vegetable on Nutrisystem.
Get the Spicy Cucumber Snack Sticks recipe.
Put money into a low-cost spiralizer—you gained’t be sorry! It makes veggie pasta swaps which are nice in case you’re attempting to chop carbs or energy. Attempt making cucumber noodle recipes made with English cucumbers (no seeds). We did and mixed them with purple bell peppers and purple onions for this straightforward salad. High these veggies with a selfmade dressing created from sesame oil, rice vinegar, diminished sodium soy sauce, purple chili flakes and a few drops of stevia. A sprinkle of sesame seeds adorns this 49-calorie aspect dish that counts as one Vegetable and one Additional on Nutrisystem.
Get the Sesame Soy Cucumber Salad recipe.
This cool-as-a-cucumber salad makes 4 servings. Nonetheless, at 34 energy per serving, you may eat all 4 with out sabotaging your weight reduction! Plus, it’s really easy to make: toss collectively this mélange of sliced cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, purple onions and mint. Topped with a tasty selfmade lemon dressing, one serving counts as one Vegetable on the Nutrisystem plan. It’s top-of-the-line cucumber salad recipes!
Get the Mediterranean Salad recipe.
Should you’ve by no means had it, farro is a nutty, chewy type of wheat that’s tremendous versatile. Mixed with deshelled cooked edamame, coleslaw combine, shredded purple cabbage, chopped inexperienced onion and cucumbers, it’s the proper summer season aspect dish. Gown it up with a mix of soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, olive oil and garlic powder, then sprinkle with some cashews and black sesame seeds. It counts as one SmartCarb, one PowerFuel, one Vegetable and one Additional.
Get the Asian Cashew and Farro Salad recipe.
Should you like tabbouleh—the Center Jap grain salad with cukes, lemon, parsley and mint—you’ll love this take that substitutes quinoa for the basic bulgur. Salad elements embody diced cucumber, chilled cooked quinoa, purple onion, mint and roughly chopped contemporary parsley. It’s dressed flippantly with a mix of olive oil, apple cider vinegar, lime juice and black pepper. One serving is 262 energy and counts as one SmartCarb, one and a half Greens and two and a half Extras on Nutrisystem.
Get the Quinoa Cucumber Salad recipe.
This lunch recipe turns deli meat and different savory elements into easy skewers that are far more enjoyable to eat than a plain outdated sandwich. You’ll be able to select your favourite low-salt deli meats (rooster, turkey, ham or roast beef) and alter a number of elements—add pickles in case you don’t like black olives, for instance—to fit your style. The recipe begins with 4 slices of deli meat, which you thread on a skewer with cheese cubes, thick slices of romaine lettuce, cherry tomatoes, black olives, cucumber slices and items of entire wheat pita bread. Your lunch (two skewers!) clocks in at solely 253 energy and counts as one SmartCarb, two PowerFuels and one Additional.
Get the Deli Meat and Cheese Kabobs recipe.
This new tackle the outdated picnic commonplace will develop into one in every of your go-tos. It’s really easy to make! A chopped seedless cucumber marinates for 4 hours in a dressing of white vinegar, contemporary parsley, chopped contemporary fill, minced garlic and salt. You’ll style that zesty dressing in each chew. Minimal energy for one tasty Vegetable serving.
Get the Zesty Cucumber and Dill Salad recipe.
If this reminds you of Greek tzatziki sauce, that’s as a result of it has the identical elements: plain Greek yogurt, chopped cucumber, dill, garlic and lemon juice. It makes an exquisite low-cal (73.5 energy per serving) dip for crackers or crudité, an expansion for sandwiches or perhaps a topping that turns a plain broiled rooster breast into one thing extra scrumptious. One serving counts as half of a PowerFuel.
Get the Cucumber Dill Dip recipe.
Begin your morning off proper with this tasty sandwich chockfull of veggies. It’s made with a Nutrisystem Honey Wheat Bagel topped with fat-free cream cheese, sliced cucumbers and uncooked bell peppers. It has the correct amount of chew, creaminess and crunch to fulfill each savory breakfast lover. One is barely 184 energy and counts as one Nutrisystem Breakfast, half of a Vegetable serving and one Additional.
Get the Veggie Delight Bagel Breakfast Sandwich recipe.
Giving nachos the Greek therapy is perfection! You’ll make some pita chips from three items of entire wheat pita bread, which you’ll prime with shredded cooked rooster and feta cheese. Simply bake it to soften the cheese a little bit. Lastly, prime these tasty nachos with cherry tomatoes, diced cucumber, chopped purple onion, contemporary parsley, tzatziki dip and sliced black olives. The recipe makes six servings, every clocking in at 175 energy. It counts as one SmartCarb, on PowerFuel and one Additional.
Get the Greek Shredded Rooster Nachos recipe.
Use the seafood of your alternative on this recipe (which requires imitation crabmeat) however stick to the various crunchy veggies: This wholesome dinner bowl accommodates Persian cucumbers, avocados, carrots, edamame and scallion over riced cauliflower. Wearing a combo of sunshine mayonnaise and sriracha, plus a sprinkling of sesame seeds, that is one satisfying meal which clocks in at 317 energy and counts as two PowerFuels, two Extras and two Greens.
Get the Cauliflower Rice Sushi Bowl recipe.
World’s best brunch—for you and a good friend or companion—or simply an additional particular breakfast, this tackle avocado toast begins with two slices of entire wheat bread. In fact, you add a schmear of creamy avocado, however then you definitely prime with skinny slices of cucumber, halved cherry tomatoes, chopped Kalamata olives, diminished fats feta cheese, dried oregano and a pinch of crushed purple pepper flakes in order for you a little bit extra chew to your breakfast. One slice is 205 energy and counts as one SmartCarb one PowerFuel and two Extras.
Get the Mediterranean Avocado Toast recipe.
Cucumber serves because the vessel for a scrumptious crab salad created from crab (after all!) combined with lemon juice, mild mayonnaise, minced cilantro and diced purple onion. Place combination into the scooped out heart of one-inch cucumber slices. It accommodates 150 energy per serving, plus 17 grams of satisfying protein. This tasty lunch, dinner or occasion appetizer counts as one PowerFuel, two Greens and one Additional.
Get the Crab Stuffed Cucumber Cups recipe.
Try these different scrumptious cucumber cup recipe concepts:
This heat climate appetizer is cute, colourful and inventive. Simple Melon Prosciutto Skewers are easy to make and have a singular candy and salty taste combo. Contemporary melon cubes and slices of prosciutto are stacked onto toothpicks with cucumber slices, contemporary basil and mozzarella balls for a straightforward no-bake appetizer.
Get the Melon Prosciutto Skewers recipe.
Cucumbers are a staple for summer season salad recipes, together with this diet-friendly Panzanella Salad that packs within the vitamin and taste. Along with crunchy cukes, it additionally has artichoke hearts and shredded rotisserie rooster for loads of fiber and protein. The selfmade French dressing will certainly develop into a go-to staple for your entire aspect salads.
Get the Mediterranean Panzanella Salad recipe.
Summer time meal prep is made straightforward and scrumptious with this excellent, refreshing and wholesome lunch thought. That includes crisp veggies like cucumbers, cherry tomatoes and onions, plus Greek salad staples like olives, chickpeas and feta cheese, this Mason Jar Greek Salad is made for grabbing and happening the way in which out the door.
Get the Mason Jar Greek Salad recipe.
