Cucumber recipes

Old-fashioned lime pickles (pickling lime, not citrus) with cucumbers soaked in calcium hydroxide for crunch, then sweet-pickled with celery seed and cloves. The Southern church-supper classic.

Tzatziki (satziki) Greek yogurt dip with cucumber, garlic, dill, olive oil, and lemon juice. Thick and creamy with strained yogurt. Serve with pita, grilled meats, or gyros.

Malosolnye ogurtsy are Russian lightly-salted pickles made with fresh dill, horseradish, garlic, and a simple brine. Crisp, garlicky, and ready in just four days.

Greek pork pita pockets with lemon-oregano marinated pork loin strips and a cool cucumber-yogurt sauce. Stir-fry the meat and stuff into warm pitas.

Garlic half-sour dill pickles: classic New York deli-style fermented cucumbers with garlic, dill, and pickling spice. Just 2 weeks to crisp, lightly sour pickles at home.

Old-fashioned eight-day bread and butter pickles made in a crock with cucumbers soaked in boiling water, then cured in a sweet vinegar syrup reheated daily for extra crunch.

Old-fashioned bread and butter pickles with the classic ice-and-salt soak that locks in jaw-cracking crunch. Sweet vinegar brine with turmeric, celery seed, and mustard seed. Makes 32 jars.

Solionye ogurtsy, traditional Russian salt-brined cucumbers fermented with dill, horseradish, garlic, and tarragon. Crisp, sour, and packed straight into jars with no vinegar in sight.

Easy freezer pickles with sliced cucumbers and onions in a sweet vinegar brine with celery seed. No canning equipment needed, just refrigerate and freeze.

No-cook freezer pickles combine sliced cucumbers and onions with sweet vinegar brine, ready to pull from the freezer whenever guests arrive.

Favorite dill pickles: garden cucumbers packed with fresh dill and garlic in jars and covered with a hot vinegar brine. The classic homemade dill pickle, ready in 3 to 4 weeks.

Freezer pickles made with sliced cucumbers, onions, sugar, vinegar, and celery seed. No canning, no water bath, no special equipment. Just salt, slice, and freeze for bread-and-butter flavor any time of year.

Ice water pickles, classic homestead cider-vinegar pickles with cucumber spears, onions, and mustard seed. The ice-water soak gives them crisp snap that lasts in the jar.

Refrigerator pickles in a cold dill-and-garlic brine, ready in three days. The no-canning, no-fermenting method that lets you keep adding cucumbers as you eat from the jar.

Classic yellow mustard pickles with cucumbers, gherkins, pearl onions, cauliflower, and red peppers in a turmeric-mustard brine. Old-school preserving-kettle recipe that stocks a pantry.

Classic house salad with romaine, radicchio, shredded carrots, tomato, and cucumber tossed in vinaigrette. A crisp, colorful side salad ready in 15 minutes.