Cucumber, Feta and Chive Bread

I have a plethora of cucumbers from the garden!  It is nice, but what to do with all of them?  I found that the don't last long in the refrigerator (I think it is because they don't have the wax coating that is typically on store-bought cukes and the fridge just dries them out), but they seem to hold up quite well on the counter.

I got the idea that I wanted to make cucumber bread.  I came across a couple quick bread recipes, but they didn't fit what I had in mind, which was a lofty yeast bread with little green flecks.  So I decided to do an experiment in the bread machine, and it turned out very well!

Dough rising for the second time.

Dough rising for the final time

Bread!

It has quite a nice texture.

I have an Oster 2lb EXPRESSBAKE(TM) Breadmaker and it came with a little recipe book, so I looked through that to get an idea of liquid to flour to yeast ratios then erred on the side of less liquid and added more until the dough looked good.  Below is the final recipe.

Cucumber, Feta and Chive Bread

Makes a 2 lb loaf.

Ingredients:

3/8 cup water

3/4 cup cucumber, seeded and finely chopped or shredded

3/4 cup cucumber, finely chopped or shredded (not seeded)

1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled

1 egg

2 tbsp butter

3 green onions, sliced

3 3/4 cups all purpose flour

2 1/2 tbsp sugar

2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast

Directions:

1. Measure and add liquid ingredients to bread pan (water through green onions)
2. Measure and add flour and sugar to bread pan
3. Make a well in the flour.  Measure and add yeast to the well.
4. Put the bread pan in the machine, close the lid and select the Sweet setting, choose your crust color (I went with medium) and press start.
5. Remove loaf from bread pan when it is finished baking and let cool (at least a little) before slicing.

Summer Vegetable Pizza

I think this is about the third year that I've had a small organic vegetable garden, and it has been producing very well.  I just picked a bunch of chard, kale, zucchini and cucumbers.  I also harvested my second eggplant! (I consider this a big deal given my Pacific Northwest location)  So to celebrate, I made a summer vegetable pizza.  Now this is not your typical pizza, as it has no pizza sauce or cheese, but I think it is quite delicious anyway.

Summer Vegetable Pizza

Exact amounts aren't important, so feel free to adjust the recipe to your liking and what you have on hand.  

2. Thinly slice the onion and garlic and saute them in olive oil until softened.

3. Slice the kale/chard/beet greens is ribbons and add it to the onions.  Saute until the greens are thoroughly wilted.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Remove from pan and set aside.

4. Thinly slice zucchini and saute in olive oil until softened. Season with salt and pepper.  Remove from pan and set aside.

5. Thinly slice eggplant and saute with sun-dried tomatoes until softened.

6.  Roll out pizza dough and place on pizza stone or pan.  Brush the crust lightly with olive oil.

7. Add toppings.  You can either mix all the veggies together or you can put them on in layers. Don't forget to slice and the tomatoes!

 8. Season with salt and pepper. Drizzle balsamic glaze on top and bake for 20-25 minutes.

Summer Vegetable Pizza

This recipe makes 1 18" pizza.  Exact amounts aren't important, so feel free to adjust the recipe to your liking and what you have on hand.  As written, this is a vegan pizza.  

• 2 lbs Pizza Dough (I used two packages, 1 lb each, of whole wheat pizza dough from Trader Joe's)
• Olive oil for sauteing
• 1 large onion
• 4 cloves garlic
• Chard, or kale, or beet greens or a mixture (This time I used chard and kale)
• 2 medium summer squash
• 1 Ichiban eggplant (Japanese eggplant)
• 1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes
• 2 large tomatoes
• Balsamic Glaze (or balsamic vinegar)
• Salt and Pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 F. 
2. Thinly slice the onion and garlic and saute them in olive oil until softened.
3. Slice the kale/chard/beet greens is ribbons and add it to the onions.  Saute until the greens are thoroughly wilted.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Remove from pan and set aside.
4. Thinly slice zucchini and saute in olive oil until softened. Season with salt and pepper.  Remove from pan and set aside.
5. Thinly slice eggplant and saute with sun-dried tomatoes until softened.
6. Roll out the pizza dough and place on pizza stone or pan.  Brush the crust lightly with olive oil.
7. Add sauteed vegetables to pizza dough. You can either mix all the veggies together or you can add them in layers.
8. Thinly slice the tomatoes and place on top of the pizza.  Season with salt and pepper.  Drizzle with balsamic glaze or balsamic vinegar
9. Bake at 400 F for 20-25 minutes.
10. Slice and enjoy!

Additions and Substitutions:
For protein, add sliced grilled chicken.
If you need cheese on your pizza, I would suggest sprinkling a bit of feta on top.
I also really like Trader Joe's garlic and herbs pizza  dough.
Saute bell peppers to add to the pizza.