Cucumbers with Tahini and Crumbled Feta

Some foods just represent summer to me. Ice cream, of course, and sweet cherries and grilled corn to name a few. But the quintessential summer veggie for me is cucumbers. Something about the light, crisp flavor begs to be eaten in warm weather. I slice them raw and put them on top of toasted bread with cream cheese for breakfast and I throw chunks of them into practically every salad I make.

But sometimes the cucumber needs to be the star of the dish. Brian loves traditional cucumber salad with vinegar and sugar and he gets plenty of that as well as a couple of other variations. But I wanted to create something that incorporates different flavors but still highlights the cucumber. I realized that whenever I order a falafel sandwich, it comes with lots of cucumbers in the pita and is topped with tahini dressing and that was my inspiration.

I'm sure you can buy prepared tahini sauce but I've always made my own so I've included the recipe for that as well. And because cucumbers need a lot of salt to bring out their flavor, I added some in the form of the brininess of crumbled feta cheese. Make yourself a big bowl, toast up some pita bread (or, better still, naan bread) and enjoy!

Ingredients
1 Seedless cucumber (also known as English or Hothouse cucumber)
1/4 Cup prepared tahini sauce (see below for recipe)
1/4 Cup crumbled feta cheese (I used low fat)
Salt and pepper to taste

Seedless cucumbers have softer skin so you don't need to peel them if you don't want to. Just rinse and cut into thin slices. For best results, sprinkle a little salt on them and place them in a colander over a bowl to drain out some of the water. When ready to serve, pour the tahini sauce over the cucumber slices and top with the crumbled feta cheese. Add additional salt and pepper, if needed. Makes approximately 2 servings.




Tahini Sauce
1/4 Cup sesame paste
1/4 Cup water
1/4 Lemon juice
1 Garlic clove, peeled
Salt & pepper to taste

In a bowl, mix together the paste, water and lemon juice until thoroughly combined. Add salt and pepper to your taste. Smash the peeled garlic clove lightly and place inside the sauce. Cover and refrigerate for at least a couple of hours for the garlic to perfume the sauce. If the sauce thickens too much at any time during refrigeration, you can thin it out with a bit of water and correct the seasoning.