Rice Vinegar Cucumber Salad

Minoo requested for volunteers to demonstrate for the South Arm Community Kitchen which was temporarily held at Bethel Church while South Arm kitchen is under renovation. It looks like the renovation is going to take much longer than anticipated.

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Minoo got Emily and Lorna to partner up for this week’s demonstration. Emily made three simple homey dishes. The first is a side dish of Rice Vinegar Cucumber Salad.

Cucumber is a good source of Vitamin C, Vitamin A, potassium, manganese, folate, dietary fiber and magnesium. The skin of cucumber has the heaviest concentration of sterols which helps to lower cholesterol. Cucumber is a great digestive aid and have a cleansing effect on the bowel. It is low in calories and is great for people on a diet.

Ingredients

  • mini cucumbers
  • salt
  • sesame oil
  • rice vinegar

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Source: Emily

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Cucumber and Tomato Salad with Yogurt Dressing

This is the first community kitchen debut for Jorge (pronounced as ‘Hor Hey’). Jorge is from Columbia and a lawyer by profession. Jorge had worked in many restaurants; for eg. Bishop, Ganache Patisserie, Joe Fortes, to name a few. The South Arm Cooking Club for Seniors is glad to have Jorge to lead the kitchen.

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Jorge selected a middle eastern theme for his first kitchen. The first recipe is Cucumber and Tomato Salad with Yogurt Dressing. This is very similar to Greek Salad.

Ingredients

For the Salad:

  • 2 tomatoes, medium size
  • 2 English cucumbers
  • 12 lettuce leaves for underliners

For the Yogurt Dressing:

  • 3 cups of plain yogurt
  • 1/3 cup sour cream
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1/4 cup of crushed roasted peanuts (reserve some for garnishing)
  • 4 tablespoons chopped cilantro (reserve some for garnishing)

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Source: Jorge Viduenez

Prep time: 20 minutes; Yield 12 servings

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Cucumber Roll

With some time left, Ella decided to show us another roll. She had prepared the ingredients for this roll just in case we have time to do it. She is so well organized.

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The Cucumber Roll is a great hit especially to people who has not tried sushi before. The flavour of seaweed is too strong for some of the attendees who has never eaten sushi before. This Cucumber Roll uses thin slices of cucumber to roll up the rice. They are so pretty and delicate.

Ingredients

  • a long English cucumber
  • rice
  • artificial crab meat, shred
  • Gherkin or pickled cucumber, cut into match sticks
  • onion, thinly slice
  • mayonnaise
  • vinegar
  • salt
  • sugar
  • sesame oil
  • black sesame seeds
  • masago
  • lemon

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Source: Ella

Prep time: 30 minutes; Serve 6

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How To Make Tzatziki

In the South Arm Community Kitchen, Minoo whipped up 6 dips. These dips are great for game nights with a group of friends. They also made great appetizers.

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These dips can be served with baguette, pita bread, corn chips, crackers and assortment of vegetables.

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We simply love the great colours of the dips. Can you guess it by its colour?

The first dip is Tzatziki which is popular in Greek cuisine.

Source: unknown

Prep time: 10 mins;  Yield: 2 cups

Ingredients

  • 1 cup Greek style yogurt
  • 1 cup finely diced cucumber
  • 2 tablespoons freshly chopped dill
  • lemon juice to taste
  • 2 small shallots finely chopped or 1/2 small red onion finely chopped
  • salt and pepper to taste

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If you cannot find Greek yogurt which sometimes called Mediterranean-style yogurt, you can make your own substitute with plain yogurt. Just line a colander with a double layer cheesecloth and place over a bowl. Pour in 2 cups of plain yogurt and chill overnight in the fridge. Discard the liquid the next morning. You’ll end up with 1 cup of Greek-style yogurt which is thicker than plain yogurt.

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