Lemon Cucumber Goodness

Yes, you heard right, LEMON cucumber! No, it's not citrus-y in the least - in fact it's crisp, a little sweet and flavorful - and all cucumber. Thad and I had never seen these pretties before when we ran across them a few weeks ago at an interesting booth at the Ann Arbor Farmer's Market. The woman also grows over 50 varieties of organic heirloom tomatoes and quite a variety of zucchini and squash.

The skin of this heirloom lemon cucumber is a little thinner than a typical cucumber, but there are pricklies to be rubbed off. And of course there are seeds inside, but what a pretty picture they make! The first time we bought them I sliced them thin with some heirloom zebra striped tomatoes and a bit of a purple sweet pepper, tossed in some white wine vinegar, EVOO, salt and pepper making a delicious crisp fresh salad that just screamed summer! Tonight I'm using this one in a lemon cucumber and pesto salad to take advantage of the abundance of fresh basil. (see recipe)

Every time we discover something new to us at the farmer's market it makes us wonder how many varieties of produce have been 'lost' to us in the world we now live in where fruit and vegetables are grown by corporate farms for their hardiness and ability to ship 3000 miles across country rather than for their beauty and unique tastes. I did a bit of research online and found that lemon cucumbers date back to 1894!