Hot lunch

It’s been really hot  (how interesting, wow, really?). It’s too hot to cook, but not quite too hot to eat.  Luckily, there are still tasty things to be had.  Here are two of my favorites:  homemade hummus and cucumber salad!  Both are easy, quick, cheap and delicious.  The dark rye is from the farmer’s market.

HUMMUS:

1 can cooked chickpeas (water set aside)

2 tablespoons-ish of tahini

1 large clove of garlic, minced

Generous 1-3 T of olive oil

1 t to 1 T of lemon juice

Salt and pepper

Optional additions: chives, dehydrated tomatoes, sundried tomatoes, pine nuts, herbs of all kinds, dried chili

Combine ingredients in a cuisinart or bowl and mash.  If it’s too thick…add more olive oil.  Sometimes I add a little of the chickpea water to get things going more smoothly.  If it feels like it’s just missing something, add more lemon juice, unless it’s really lemony.  Be wary with the tahini, it can be bitter and not to everyone’s taste.  Yes, it’s really that easy to make hummus.

Summer Cucumber salad:

1 cucumber, cut into quarters

Small red onion, sliced very thinly

1/4 cup yogurt

1 T rice vinegar

Fresh dill and fresh mint, minced

Salt and pepper

Mix up yogurt, vinegar, salt and pepper, and onions in the bottom of your bowl, so the onions can marinate.  Slice the cuke into quarters the long way, and if the seeds seem really soggy, scrape them off.  Slice the cuke horizontally and combine.  Add herbs and salt and pepper to taste.  Delicious, and one of the first things I ever learned to cook.

Tags: cold food, cooking, cucumber salad, cucumbers, farmers market, hot weather cooking, hummus, recipes