After a brisk 7am walk with Daniel, he and I return to our little backyard, to water (and play in) the garden. Lo and behold, we have about 5 GIANT cucumbers that magically bolted in size overnight. I pick one and wonder...hmm, what can I make with this? What almost instantly springs to mind is my mom's favorite summer salad: Mehin's Persian Delight. She almost always has this on hand...all year round. And while I am a fan of seasonal eating (especially out of one's own garden :)), this is a delicious and easy food to have on hand when you don't feel like cooking, any time of the year.And yes, it's also technically breaking the rules of good food-combining (aka: no fruits with other foods), but hey! sometimes exceptions must be made in the name of deliciousness. So, we proceed...
This is borrowed from my dear mother's magnum opus book of family recipes. Please ask her for a copy, as it will enhance your knowledge of "ancestral eating" and proper table etiquette by 100 fold. You can email her here: dshumane@sbcglobal.net. Tell her I sent you, mouth-watering, with plate in hand.
"This salad was first introduced to us [my mother, her 2 sisters and parents] by Mehin Sheybani at lunch in her home in Tehran in 1964. As there was no recipe, this is my version"
Mehin's Persian Delight
Mix together all:
2 cucumbers, seeded, peeled and cut into small pieces
1 8oz. container plain (whole) yogurt
3/4 c. raisins, regular or golden
1 c. seedless grapes, halved
salt and freshly ground pepper
fresh mint (or dried) to taste (I added fresh peppermint from my potted herb garden)
Refrigerate, covered. The cucumbers will weep from being salted and the juice and yogurt will soften the raisins. Will stay good for quite a few days.
