The SF Bay Area is experiencing some bizarre weather this week. We went from a high of 80 to 102 in two days’ time and today we woke up to a really rare thunderstorm at 3am and a rainbow at 7am!
As much as I love to cook, this heat called for relatively something hands off, cold, and refreshing. I’ve also been spoiled by my neighbor’s cucumber harvest and wanted to make sure we had a good amount of protein, so enter my latest creation: No-Cook Cucumber Boats. (Jump to the recipes at the bottom of the post if you’re in a hurry!)
There are so many reasons to love these. They’re vegan. Low-Carb. Not lacking protein. They’re easy enough for a child to help you make or an older child could make them totally on his or her own. They keep well for a few days. They can travel pretty well for a picnic. And you can easily add some tuna or boiled egg or chopped olives to mix it up. I topped ours with feta for a little extra salty goodness on a hot day.
To make the No-Cook Cucumber Boats, start by making the vinaigrette. You’ll want to get the chickpeas soaking in it as soon as you can to maximize their flavor later on. See the recipe card for measurements, but basically add all the salt, pepper, all the spices, oil and vinegar to the bottom of a mixing bowl. Note here that there are go-to spices in my kitchen that I find myself using on a regular basis. This recipe was no exception. Instead of fresh black pepper. I added Penzey’s Sunny Spain, which is a mix of ground, dried lemon peel and black pepper. It is such an excellent addition to salad dressings and soup because it adds depth and flavor without liquid…or effort, which for a busy home cook is so key.
Whisk the mixture together really well and let it hang out while you finely chop up about half of a shallot. I hardly ever use measurements—the shallot amounted to about half of a handful. Throw them in the dressing, then open and drain a can of garbanzo beans. I like the organic from the 365 brand from Whole Foods—they’re always readily available and about $1. Throw them in the bowl and mix them really well to completely coat them with the vinaigrette. Put the whole bowl in the fridge—you want these as cold as possible!
Now for the cucumbers. You can go ahead and assemble the cucumbers now or wait until you’re ready to serve. I made them right away and refrigerated the boats to have the whole dish icy cold. This time, I used medium-sized pickling cucumbers. They have smaller seeds and I find them the easiest to remove. There’s less water in the pulp and the flesh holds up well to the scoopage. You can use a melon baller or a teaspoon—just try to use a spoon with a width smaller than the cucumber so you don’t tear the flesh. Nobody wants a leak in the boat!
These cukes didn’t yield a ton of pulp, but if yours do, you can use it for smoothies (with apple and kale!) or for gazpacho (garlic, tomatoes, olive oil, bread). Go ahead and position the cucumbers on whatever serving dish you’re going to use, and get your bowl of marinating chickpeas from the fridge. Simply fill the boats with the garbanzo mixture and they can be ready to serve or they can back to the fridge until meal time.
I topped ours with fresh chives and chive flowers from the garden and slivers of feta. Fresh dill, fennel fronds, mint, lemon zest…the topping options are pretty much endless. Parent tip: if you’re planning on feeding these to toddlers, make sure to drain the chickpeas well before filling the boats. Our kids surprisingly enjoyed these—the 4-year old pretended the boat was sailing on his plate, and the 2-year old likes not having to fight the food with her knife and fork. I hope your family enjoys these as much as we did!
The Life So Valley 