Veggie/Fruit of the Month-Cucumber

Ambrosia is hosting Veggie/Fruit of the Month. This series has been started in 2010 by Priya of Mharo Rajasthan's Recipes. Thanks Priya for this wonderful opportunity. Psst- the secret is this has come to me as a surprise, and a big one too! :-)

For Dec, the fruit is Cucumber. 

Yes, Cucumber is a fruit!! Here are some facts about the fruit, source- Wiki-

• Cucumbers originated in India !!
• The cucumber (Cucumis sativus) is a widely cultivated plant in the gourd family Cucurbitaceae, which includes squash and melons. The plant is a creeping vine which bears cylindrical edible fruit when ripe. There are three main varieties of cucumber: "slicing", "pickling", and "burpless". 
• Having an enclosed seed and developing from a flower, botanically speaking, cucumbers are classified as fruits. However, much like tomatoes and squash they are often perceived, prepared and eaten as vegetables. 
• Cucumbers are usually more than 90% water.

Choosing cucumbers- Choose the cucumbers that are displayed in refrigerated cases, because they are sensitive to heat.

They should be firm to touch. Avoid cucumbers that are yellow, puffy and wrinkled at their tips.


Nutritional Profile- Cucumbers provide us with a variety of health-supportive phytonutrients like  flavonoids, lignans and triterpenes. Cucumbers are an excellent source of vitamin K, molybdenum, vitamin C, potassium,
magnesium, manganese, and vitamin B5. They also contain the important nail health-promoting mineral silica!


Cucumber for Beauty!!
Cucumber reduces dark circles and swelling around the eyes. After a long day's work, Cucumber eye pads
can be very very relaxing! Cucumber mixed with mint is a very good face pack.
Cucumber paste helps reduce blemishes too. Cucumber and the skin share the same level of hydrogen, it helps in relaxing the skin.

The regular intake of cucumber juice is very useful both internally and externally.

So cucumber that has so many benefits, should definitely feature in our kitchen! Let's go now to to the rules of the event-

• The dish can be anything -muffins, rice dishes, fired, chutneys or juice but with cucumber as main ingredient.
• The dish can be any course of the meal. (starters / main dish / beverage etc)
• The recipe can be veg or non veg, eggs are allowed in baking.
• The recipes have to be new and no archived entries are allowed!
• Post the recipe in your blog from  14 Dec 2011 to 15 Jan 2012. Multiple entries are welcome!
• Link the recipe post to this announcement page and Priya's announcement page .
• Include the logo as it is manadatory and it helps spread the word.

Use the link tool below to link your recipe.
In case you are not able to link-

Please send in your entries to richapriyanka [at] gmail.com with "Veggie/Fruit of the Month - Cucumber" in the subject line with you rname, blog url and Recipe name and Url.
Non bloggers can send in your recipe details along with the picture to the above email and I will post your recipe in your blog.

Shall we get to cooking then? :-)

Wait!! You can win yourself a cookbook from Infibeam.com upto Rs 500! This is a sponsor-free giveaway, and my way of saying thankyou to all you lovely people participating in this event.

Giveaway guidelines-

• Participate in the event as per the rules and leave me a comment on this post.
• This is valid only for bloggers in India!
• Follow me on Blogger and tweet about my giveaway!! append with #ambrotos 

I eagerly await your entries!! Begin linking now!!