Cucumber

Low-cal 'shrooms up the heartiness factor of these patties, for burgers that are backyard barbecue-worthy.

Serve the salmon with raita, which gets a peppery twist from the addition of grated daikon radish.

The ultimate beer-hall food is also quite possibly one of our most versatile recipes. Arrange the pickles on a board with Gouda and a soft, dark loaf of rye from the bakery for a satisfying ploughman’s lunch. Whip up a batch to present in an attractive jar for a delectable edible gift that comes together in minutes. Or just serve alongside sandwiches in a buffet—the tart, lightly spicy crunch of the cucumber is a refreshing complement to most cheeses, from Cheddar to goat.

Chef Joe Bonaparte, academic director of culinary arts at the Art Institute of Charlotte, North Carolina, must have had garden parties or afternoon snacks in mind when creating this enticing combination of eggplant, peppers, and tomatoes topped with parsley, basil, and chives.

This salad is low in calories and high in fiber, so why not double the recipe? The ingredients can be assembled in jars and stored in your fridge, making it easy to pack and carry to work or the beach. Simply mix it up and serve at room temperature with a side of toasted pita chips so you can scoop up every bit of the oregano and vinegar dressing.

Jazz up a traditional summer staple with this extra-fresh side dish. Usually potato salads are dense dishes drenched in mayonnaise, but this version provides a boost in flavor and texture with cucumbers, onions, radishes, and dill. Be sure to leave ample time for preparation, as the recipe requires you to pickle the cucumbers overnight. Prepare an extra batch; the pickled cucumbers make a great snack on their own and add a satisfying crunch to other salads and sandwiches and will last in the refrigerator for several days.

A great recipe is like a strong friendship—it gets better with age. Epicurious member Sooz Wolhuter of Laguna Beach, California, crafted this cabbage salad years ago, riffing on a coleslaw recipe. The blend of ribboned cabbage, carrots, cucumbers, peppers, and green onions mixed with spicy soy and chile garlic is perfect for large gatherings. If peanuts aren’t enough protein for you, add some seared Ahi tuna or grilled sliced chicken to bulk it up.

This healthy sprightly salad has a distinctly Asian kick to it. One of the best things about it is you can add just about any veggies you have—just be sure to cut them up into bite-size pieces. The dressing also makes a terrific marinade for fish or chicken.

This recipe is part of the Epicurious Online Cooking School, in partnership with the Culinary Institute of America. To watch it being made, and to learn how to make other Mediterranean classics, check out the video classes.

This recipe is part of the Epicurious Online Cooking School, in partnership with the Culinary Institute of America. To watch it being made, and to learn how to make other Mediterranean classics, check out the video classes.

Arab salad, chopped salad, Israeli salad—whatever you choose to call it, there is no escaping it. Wherever you go, a Jerusalemite is most likely to have a plate of freshly chopped vegetables—tomato, cucumber, and onion, dressed with olive oil and lemon juice—served next to whatever else they are having. It's a local affliction, quite seriously. Friends visiting us in London always complain of feeling they ate "unhealthily" because there wasn't a fresh salad served with every meal. There are plenty of unique variations on the chopped salad but one of the most popular is fattoush, an Arab salad that uses grilled or fried leftover pita. Other possible additions include peppers, radishes, lettuce, chile, mint, parsley, cilantro, allspice, cinnamon, and sumac. Each cook, each fmily, each community has their own variation. A small bone of contention is the size of the dice. Some advocate the tiniest of pieces, only 1/8 inch / 3 mm wide, others like them coarser, up to 3/4 inch / 2 cm wide. The one thing that there is no arguing over is that the key lies in the quality of the vegetables. They must be fresh, ripe, and flavorsome, with many hours in the sun behind them. This fabulous salad is probably Sami's mother's creation; Sami can't recall anyone else in the neighborhood making it. She called it fattoush, which is only true to the extent that it includes chopped vegetables and bread. She added a kind of homemade buttermilk and didn't fry her bread, which makes it terribly comforting. Try to get small cucumbers for this as for any other fresh salad. They are worlds apart from the large ones we normally get in most supermarkets. You can skip the fermentation stage and use only buttermilk instead of the combination of milk and yogurt.

Salting and pressing vegetables draws out moisture and makes them snappy. Sake and seasoned rice vinegar infuse these pickles with mild, cocktail-friendly flavors.

If you're looking for fresh hits of color and crunch for the buffet, here's your answer.

Of all the ceviche relatives, this one is arguably the easiest and most refreshing (not to mention, as many Mexicans will tell you, a great hangover cure).

Our dear friends, the Krutchiks, often lavish us with new food discoveries, like Wagyu pastrami—a luxe version of the delicious brined, spiced and smoked deli meat—which they buy at their NYC neighborhood shop, Grace's Marketplace. The richly marbled, melt-in-your-mouth meat inspired this twist on Italy's beloved bread and tomato salad. Use ripe, in-season tomatoes (their sweet juices form part of the dressing), and pick an airy light rye bread over the dark, dense sort; the latter is too chewy for this salad. Wagyu is certainly tasty, but any good pastrami works well here.

We like vegetarian mains in summer; for a heartier dish, add shredded rotisserie chicken or sliced grilled steak.

As much as I like tabbouleh, to me fattoush has more zing—plus it's less time-consuming to make and more adaptable. Here's one version of fattoush you'll encounter all over Lebanon, but in any home or restaurant you'll notice slight variations, depending on the season or the cook's palate. You can either deep-fry or toast the pita croutons that give the salad its special character; the fried bread will taste better, but toasted is, obviously, healthier. When tomatoes are out of season, I like to substitute cherry or grape tomatoes since they're likely to be juicier and more flavorful. If you can find purslane, use it (a cup or two, chopped); it adds authenticity and a nice peppery bite.

St. John Frizell of Fort Defiance in Red Hook, Brooklyn, created this recipe for a Fourth of July drinks feature—this is the blue option in a special red, white, and blue Sangria series. The drink gets its oceanlike hue from just 1 ounce of blue curaçao, but if color isn't important to you, feel free to use regular (clear) curaçao instead. Frizell warns against using cheap vermouth: "An excellent dry vermouth, like Dolin, is necessary for this recipe." The drizzle of Maraschino liqueur, Frizell explains, "adds a nutty, bittersweet note."

"Nobody thinks to cook cucumbers, but I treat them as I would any vegetable"