sweet miscellany

Things have been quiet the past couple of weeks over here at Sweet Miscellany because I went on a vacation! A real live vacation! And it was longer than a weekend! Yay! Some of my family went to Cape Cod to enjoy the sun, beach, and much cooler temperatures. It was heavenly. And, it has us (me included) thinking about re-locating to Massachusetts at some point in the near future.

I took a lot of photos, though not as much as I would have liked. I realized how uncomfortable I am taking photos of things other than food so I was trying to get out of my comfort zone. I kind of felt like a goofy tourist when I had my camera hanging around my neck so I didn’t use it as much as I could have. I guess I just need to get over that and own it. I decided to share some of my favorites here in case you want to live vicariously through them. Enjoy! 🙂

Kachumber (vegan/gf recipe) | seasonal plant-based recipes via The Sweet Miscellany Blog

Chopped cucumbers, tomatoes, and onion are combined with toasted cashews, mint, and lime for a cooling summer salad. This vegan and gluten free kachumber is perfect for enjoying on hot summer days or when you need a cooling element alongside spicy foods!

During these sweltering summer days I’m all for cooling foods. In my mind, cucumbers seem to be the epitome of something cooling. Perhaps it’s because they are mostly made up of water (over 90% water to be exact). Until recently the most I ever did with cucumbers was make pickles or dip them in hummus. Even though I love a good pickle, I wanted to venture out from my comfort zone and experiment a bit more. That seems to be a big trend in my life at the moment 🙂

Since I love Indian food, I wanted to make my own version of kachumber with my homegrown cucumbers. In case you have never had it or don’t quite know what it is, kachumber is an Indian dish that is typically a mixture of chopped veggies like cucumbers and onions. It is meant to be a raw and cooling contrast to spicy curries and such. I had some pretty good kachumber at Pondicheri before they took it off the menu. When my cucumbers were ripe and ready to be picked, I set about creating an homage to this lovely dish with what I had on hand.

Kachumber

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Author: Courtney West
Total Time: 15 minutes
Yield: 4 servings 1x
Diet: Vegan

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Description

Ingredients

Units Scale

1 medium cucumber, seeds scooped out and sliced
heaped 1/2 cup of small grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 of a red onion, small dice
large handful of toasted cashews
juice of 1 lime
1 tbsp fresh mint leaves, finely chopped
1/4 to 1/2 tsp fresh ground cumin
1/4 tsp garam masala (optional)
sea salt to taste

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Instructions

Combine everything together in a bowl and toss well. Taste, and adjust with more salt, spices, or lime juice as needed. Chill the kachumber until you are ready to eat it.

Makes approximately 4 side servings. Enjoy!

Notes

If you are making this ahead of time, wait to salt it until right before you serve it as the salt will draw out a lot of moisture from the veggies.
This makes a great side dish for a spicy veggie curry or dal.

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Category: side
Cuisine: Indian