Lemon Cucumbers
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Have you ever seen a lemon cucumber? They're called "lemon" not because of the 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).
Lemon cucumbers can be used for most recipes calling for cucumber. Here are a few of the cucumber recipes on Simply Recipes. Some bloggers have specified recipes that use lemon cucumbers, here is a sampling:
Lemon cucumbers with pesto - from White on Rice Couple
Lemon cucumber tofu salad - by Heidi of 101 Cookbooks
Lemon cucumber soup bowls - from Straight from the Farm
Albacore Tuna Salad with Lemon Cucumbers - from Seattle Bon Vivant
Lemon Cucumbers with Toasted Sesame Seeds - from All the Marmalade
If you have a particular recipe for lemon cucumbers not listed here, please let us know about it in the comments.
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This is so bizarre....Last week my fiance's mother gave us a big bag of veggies from her garden. I couldn't figure out what one of them was. I have a book about produce and I tried to find it in there, but couldn't. I cut one open today and discovered it tasted kind of like cucumber, but still didn't know what it was.
And then I saw this in my RSS feed! Thanks so much for unwittingly identifying my mystery vegetable!