Tag Archive for Cucumbers

Fire Cracker Potato Salad

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It’s real, and it’s Keto!  How can you have a July Fourth celebration without potato salad?  We have found a way, and it involves one of our favorite Keto veggies.

Have you guessed already?  It’s the one that makes rice, mashers, tater tots, and pizza crust.  The incredible, invincible, and transformative cauliflower!  The chameleon of all veggies!  I always have a head of cauliflower in the fridge because it can do just about anything for a meal!  I was wondering if I could slide this past my crew, and it worked like a charm.  You can pretty much use your favorite potato salad recipe by substituting cauliflower for your potatoes.  We prefer a creamy mustard type dressing with a little sweetness. I know some like mayo only, and others like a tart mustard, so take it where you like it.  So many options!

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I still had a few of the refreshing cukes in the fridge, so I thought I would give them a try for the touch of sweet.  Worked like a charm.  So if you are planning on making the cucumbers for your July Fourth celebration, save a few extra to throw into your “potatoes”.

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So here is the recipe along with a few variations for your upcoming weekend:

Keto Potato Salad

1 medium to large head of cauliflower

1 cup of diced celery

1/2 cup diced red onion

1/3 cup diced Refreshing Cukes + 5 Tbsp of the “Pickle Juice”

3/4 cup mayonnaise

1/3 cup dijon mustard

1 tsp Himalayan salt

1 tsp black pepper

Dash of paprika

 

Other Options:

Vinegar for tartness

Boiled Egg (2-3)

Black Olives

Dill Pickles with pickle juice if you don’t have the Cukes, but like the pickle idea.

Lemon juice

Chives

 

Directions:

Chop your cauliflower into bite size pieces like you would eat your potatoes.

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Boil a large pot of water.  Once it comes to a rolling boil, lower the heat to medium and simmer your cauliflower for about 5 to 6 minutes.  Carefully pierce with a fork to check for tenderness.  This is the hardest part…you want it soft enough to mimic the potatoes, but you don’t want it to get mushy once you start mixing your ingredients together.  Once you have it to the correct tenderness, strain in a large colander.  Let it drain and then return to the pot.  If you are worried about the tenderness, (the texture is super important for this recipe) boil them until they are perfect and then immediately submerge in an ice cold water bath to stop the cooking.  Then strain in the colander.

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Add your chopped celery, onion, and cucumber or pickles (along with any other solids you choose to add.)  Toss to combine.

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Now add your mayonnaise, mustard and spices, except for the paprika.

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Mix everything together.  You can taste at this point to see if it needs anything, but remember, the flavors will meld in the refrigerator a little more.

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Refrigerate for a few hours.  When you place it in a serving bowl, sprinkle with a little paprika for color and enjoy with your firecrackers!

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Refreshing Cukes!

Last week, a friend of mine showed up at my door with a trash bag full of homegrown cucumbers.  He had grown them at his office, and thought I could use them since he knows I like to cook.  I had never seen so many cucumbers, and I honestly didn’t have a clue what to do with them.   My husband LOVES cucumbers, so I knew I needed to find something quickly!  I couldn’t let these go to waste!  The search began…

Look at these things…I had never seen anything like them before!  They were the largest Japanese Cucumbers I had ever seen!

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As you can see, these are huge!

I searched around through cookbooks and on the web.  I didn’t find anything that shouted out at me, but I combined a few recipes, changed out the sugar, and came up with a winner!  They haven’t even finished marinating, and my son said, “These are amazing…Dad is going to love them…This is my new favorite snack.”

So those of you looking for snack ideas, I have a new one!

You will need:

5-6 Cucumbers (I used 4 of these huge ones, so thinking this is the equivalent)

2 1/2 cups White Vinegar

1 Red Onion

1 Cup Xylitol or Sugar Substitute of Choice (See note at bottom)

2 tsp Celtic Salt

1 tsp Celery Seed

1 tsp Dried Dill

Directions:

In a saucepan, combine your vinegar, salt, and sweetener.  Over medium heat, (it’s gonna stink), heat your vinegar until your “sugar” and salt dissolves.

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Remove from heat, and add your celery seed and dill weed.  Allow to cool a little and place in the refrigerator to cool completely.

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While your marinade is cooling, slice your cucumbers in a mandoline.  I love my De Buyer!  If you don’t have a mandoline, what are you waiting for?  It makes life so much easier!  I bought mine at Williams Sonoma, but you can get yours here too.

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I did adjust my mandoline for thicker slices.  I had it set from the zucchini last week, but these needed to be a bit thicker.

Also, slice your red onion into thin rings.  Place your cucumbers and red onion slices in a bowl.

Once you have everything sliced and your marinade is cold, you can pour your marinade over your cucumber and onion.

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Toss everything together until lightly coated.  Cover with Saran and place in your refrigerator overnight.  At this point you can’t even see the liquid, but just wait!

This is what it looks like in the morning:

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Everything is soaking in the juices!  Yum!

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Let it sit and soak up the deliciousness for 24 to 48 hours!  Enjoy as a snack, a salad, or a side dish!  I am thinking ahead to the July 4th holiday!!!

 

A note on Xylitol:  You don’t see us using this one very often.  The reason I did on this dish was because it was a cold marinade that also had to be heated so I thought it would work best.  There are many that love Xylitol, and there is nothing wrong with it from a Keto standpoint.  I have two cautions on it though:

1.  It is extremely toxic for dogs!  Keep it away from animals.

2.  It can cause stomach discomfort in a few.

For the quantity of liquid in these in relation to the amount of cucumbers, I did not think it would have much effect since we are not consuming the liquid on it’s own.

If you try different sweeteners or have a different variation on this recipe, we would love to hear about it in the comments section!