cucumber help!!

jessicasager

i bought a cucumber for snacks because they are an easy way to get my veggies in and have barely any calories. i keep finding recipes for them but they are all dinner or salad related. what do you guys do to your cucumbers? salt and sugar? vinegar? i don't really care for them plain, i wish i knew a way to dress them up, but still keep it low-cal... anybody??

vanimami

I don't know exactly how to use them in foods either, but I just eat them with salt and lemon juice and I'm good to go.

repete11

I love them with low-fat ranch. It tastes pretty close to the same and is way lower in calories. Easy snack with carrots. Love it!

Rdahl2

I usually put a dash of salt and pepper on them or eat them with a tad of ranch.

vrdz3215

Put some vinegar in a tupperware tub, cut up cucumbers and add them, let them sit in the fridge until they are cold. My bf loves them like that, I personally like to put some salt on them.

theresalupe

I use a light olive oil vinagrette and a little bit of feta, which adds some protein. A little feta goes a long way and most regular feta is only 80 calories an ounce. Throw some onion in there with some pepper and its good to go.

vanimami

I use a light olive oil vinagrette and a little bit of feta, which adds some protein. A little feta goes a long way and most regular feta is only 80 calories an ounce. Throw some onion in there with some pepper and its good to go.

mmm sounds good. I usually put feta in everything! :embarassed:

erickirb

Take 2 slices low carb bread, spread low fat cream cheese, add sliced cucumber (skin on) add peper and fresh mint (optional). Excellent sandwich.

Desiderata

CUCUMBERS = BAD

The low calories in fruit can help keep you slim and trim, but i do not reccommend cucumbers. Its like eating fiber and water. They have absolutly no nutritional value, and will just fill you with...nothing. Bad!

Their transparent color means a lack of vitamins and minerals that are essential for your health. You should concentrate on the brightly colored fruits and vegetables, including legumes. Bright, or dark colors means high concentrations in vitamins and minerals.

Fruits such as kiwi for high vitamin C, bananas for high potassium, pineapple for bromelain, berries for polyphenols, and red grapes for resveratrol are great alternatives. Others include papayas, a low calorie fruit that contains a generous amount of vitamin C and potassium, oranges, strawberries: an excellent source of fiber, potassium, iron, and vitamin C, and cantaloupe: a sweet, low-calorie fruit with salmon-colored flesh rich in vitamin A. They also contains vitamin C and potassium.

Just like higher calorie foods, you dont want them to be empty calories. Nutrients, vitamins and minerals are more easily absorbed by your body from the natural source, like fruits and vegetables, than diet suppliments and multi-vitamin pills.

Get the most out of everything you eat!

kristinaseverns

I like them with hummus, which is lowfat and gives you some protein.

Nipha

I like them sliced thin with thin onion slices with rice wine vinegar.

jowily

Cucumber=good

I am not sure how you can say they are bad...they are actually very good


Cucumbers actually contain

Calcium
Iron
Magnesium
Phosphorous
Potassium
Phytosterols
Lot of water (good!)
Omega 6
They are a great way to get fiber and water, no calories, great taste

from the worlds healthiest foods:

An Easy Way to Increase Your Consumption of Both Fiber and Water

Trying to get adequate dietary fiber on a daily basis is a challenge for many Americans. Adding a crunchy cool cucumber to your salads is an especially good way to increase your fiber intake because cucumber comes naturally prepackaged with the extra fluid you need when consuming more fiber. Plus, you get the added bonus of vitamin C, silica, potassium and magnesium.

High Blood Pressure? Cucumber Can Help You Cool Down

When people who participated in the DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) Study added foods high in potassium, magnesium and fiber, their blood pressure dropped to healthier levels. Those people in the study who ate a diet rich in these compounds in addition to the other foods on this diet (low fat dairy foods, seafood, lean meat and poultry) lowered their blood pressure by 5.5 points (systolic) over 3.0 points (diastolic).

jessicasager

thanks so much for all your responses! as far as the cucumbers=bad post, i'm eating all my other regular fruits and vegetables. this will be a good snack for when i just need something to munch on. they have a lot of water and some vitamins too. thank you everyone for all your ideas!

Desiderata

you can do so much better than cucumbers. and the vitamins it contains is really no more than 2% of your daily value reccommendation.

In a half cup of sliced cucmbers, you recieve 1% Vit. A, 1% Calcium, 2% Vit. C, and 1% Iron.

patricia184

I love Fage Greek Yogurt...makes a great tzatzaki (sp) sauce...a flavorful way to eat cukes

mello

Cucumbers are very good for you, especially when you consider the alternative!!!

I slice one and pour 2 tablespoons Newman's Own Light Balsamic dressing over it. I think it's a great snack and I buy 5 weekly just for that reason.





Cucumber is a fruit and a member of the cucurbitaceous family. Like melon, squash and pumpkins, it is very high in water and very low in calories and an excellent source of potassium, vitamin C and folic acid.

The high water content makes cucumbers a diuretic and it also has a cleansing action within the body by removing accumulated pockets of old waste material and chemical toxins. Cucumbers help eliminate uric acid which is beneficial for those who has arthritis and its fibre-rich skin and their high levels of potassium and manganese helps regulate blood pressure and help promote nutrient functions. The magnesium content in cucumbers also relaxes nerves and muscles and keeps blood circulating smoothly.





Other reported health benefits of cucumber include:

- Helps in kidney and urinary bladder disease
- Liver disease
- Pancreatic disease
- promotes hair growth due to its high silicon and sulphur content
- Treatment of pyorrhea

LivinTheLife

mello, that’s some great info on cucumbers. Jessica, there are plenty of things you can do with cucumbers. Our SaladCenter website has many creative ideas you could check out, just go in the Seasonal Produce section. It can give you tips on how to prepare or serve cucumbers a long with many other produce. Here’s a creative cucumber recipe you might want to try, especially for any holiday parties coming up. Let me know what you think.

Cream Cheese N' Herb Cucumber Bites

Prep Time: 10 min * Total Time: 10 min * Makes: 4 servings

What you Need:
1 carrot, shredded (about 1/2 cup), divided
1/2 cup PHILADELPHIA Chive & Onion 1/3 Less Fat than Cream Cheese
2 cucumbers, cut lengthwise in half, seeded

What To Do:
RESERVE 2 Tbsp. carrots. Mix remaining carrots with cream cheese; spoon into cucumber shells. Top with reserved carrots.

CUT each cucumber half into 5 pieces to serve.

Here's the link to the recipe and Nutritional facts:
http://www.kraftfoods.com/kf/recipes/cream-cheese-n-herb-56995.aspx

mabella17

i bought a cucumber for snacks because they are an easy way to get my veggies in and have barely any calories. i keep finding recipes for them but they are all dinner or salad related. what do you guys do to your cucumbers? salt and sugar? vinegar? i don't really care for them plain, i wish i knew a way to dress them up, but still keep it low-cal... anybody??

walmart sell this stuff that can be found by the yogurt. Its called Fresh Food Concepts Spinach Yogurt Dip. It is really good with cucumbers and just about everything else :bigsmile:

kgrutch

i make a tsaziki sauce from greek yogurt (plain, nonfat), garlic and lots of diced cucumber, love it on pitas, tuna, chicken, salads as dressing.

chellebelle315

Cucumbers, especially with the skin on are super good for you, and a great snack, especially when paired with some of the great options listed above.

something I've been doing lately....I love chips and salsa...its one of my favorite snacks, but the chips aren't great for me, so I make a snack of a few baked tortilla chips, and some cucumber slices...I use them like chips, and they are crunchy and yummy...

I also love tzaziki...I find the combination of the yogurt for protein and the cucumber for fiber to be really satisfying...Its good with other veggies as i dip, or as a spread on sandwiches or even crackers, or a bagel...

mavsfan2009

lime juice and any sort of chile power or sauce!

LittleSpy

Cucumbers are "bad" the exact same way mushrooms are "bad." In reality, it's not that either one is particularly *bad* for you, it's just that they're not really nutritionally super *good* for you since they don't have a high concentration of vitamins and minerals.
IMO, it's not a very good idea to actually count cucumbers as a serving of veggies for the reason stated above, but they're certainly still fine to eat as a low cal snack!

I think (hope) the point Desidirata was making is if cucumbers are basically the only veggie you're eating, you should probably consider other options (carrots, broccoli, etc) with higher nutritional values for your veggie servings.

I like cukes with a little salt, pepper, and red wine vinegar.

Mina133842

I like them in the sandwich form that someone else mentioned above, however, I also add tomato to that. whole wheat or grain bread, with some fat free cream cheese, cukes, tomato, sprinkle of salt and pepper, and then some sprouts. Super yummy!

foxyforce

mello, that’s some great info on cucumbers. Jessica, there are plenty of things you can do with cucumbers. Our SaladCenter website has many creative ideas you could check out, just go in the Seasonal Produce section. It can give you tips on how to prepare or serve cucumbers a long with many other produce. Here’s a creative cucumber recipe you might want to try, especially for any holiday parties coming up. Let me know what you think.

Cream Cheese N' Herb Cucumber Bites

Prep Time: 10 min * Total Time: 10 min * Makes: 4 servings

What you Need:
1 carrot, shredded (about 1/2 cup), divided
1/2 cup PHILADELPHIA Chive & Onion 1/3 Less Fat than Cream Cheese
2 cucumbers, cut lengthwise in half, seeded

What To Do:
RESERVE 2 Tbsp. carrots. Mix remaining carrots with cream cheese; spoon into cucumber shells. Top with reserved carrots.

CUT each cucumber half into 5 pieces to serve.

Here's the link to the recipe and Nutritional facts:
http://www.kraftfoods.com/kf/recipes/cream-cheese-n-herb-56995.aspx

thanks for posting this!

hodaka123

I have this at least 4 times per week for my lunch:

La Tortilla - low carb, high fiber whole wheat tortilla - heat it on the stove
spread 1 triangle of laughing cow cheese - garlic and herbs on the tortilla
cut up the following: cucumber, tomato, red onion - salt and pepper
roll it all up and enjoy. It adds up to be about 147 calories.

LivinTheLife

mello, that’s some great info on cucumbers. Jessica, there are plenty of things you can do with cucumbers. Our SaladCenter website has many creative ideas you could check out, just go in the Seasonal Produce section. It can give you tips on how to prepare or serve cucumbers a long with many other produce. Here’s a creative cucumber recipe you might want to try, especially for any holiday parties coming up. Let me know what you think.

Cream Cheese N' Herb Cucumber Bites

Prep Time: 10 min * Total Time: 10 min * Makes: 4 servings

What you Need:
1 carrot, shredded (about 1/2 cup), divided
1/2 cup PHILADELPHIA Chive & Onion 1/3 Less Fat than Cream Cheese
2 cucumbers, cut lengthwise in half, seeded

What To Do:
RESERVE 2 Tbsp. carrots. Mix remaining carrots with cream cheese; spoon into cucumber shells. Top with reserved carrots.

CUT each cucumber half into 5 pieces to serve.

Here's the link to the recipe and Nutritional facts:
http://www.kraftfoods.com/kf/recipes/cream-cheese-n-herb-56995.aspx

thanks for posting this!

No Problem Loathesome! Please enjoy! Let me know how it turns out!

MPH2

Thin some plain yogurt with a bit of milk to make a creamy texture, add dill weed, stir in thinly sliced cucumbers serve as a side dish. This is very common dish in Germany, easy and with a bright fresh taste.

Cucumber bad? .................... Please.

I say they are good for the exact reason you say they are bad. A food that gives satisfaction of eating, is mostly water, and gives the pleasant filling of fullness without the calories is a pure bonus for most dieters. Not to mention the beneficial effects of water and fiber on the digestive track and the skin is packed with phitonutrients.

forgetthatday

Thin some plain yogurt with a bit of milk to make a creamy texture, add dill weed, stir in thinly sliced cucumbers serve as a side dish. This is very common dish in Germany, easy and with a bright fresh taste.

my Dad mixes cukes with sour cream, salt and pepper - very similar to this and so tasty!

Steebs3

cut into slices and pour alittle italian dressing on them

junkgypsy

Why is everyone hating on cucumbers?
No, they're not something you want to make a meal out of or base your nutrition off of, but they are not bad for you.

At least she is making a healthy decision, cucumbers are better than french fries or other fried foods, and tons of other stuff, no?

TheMaidOfAstolat

The girl that posted that they are bad hasn't been on here since 11/30...so fret too much over it.
Cucumbers are great for filling you up and contain water (which is one thing the body needs).