When you’re looking for healthy snacks, someone always suggests the same things, mostly raw vegetables, almost always with hummus. I’m not against this, necessarily, but eating sliced veggies and hummus can get boring quick. Strangely, eating the same hummus with crackers or pita chips never bores me, but maybe that’s just me.
As the weather gets warmer, and farmer’s markets start to open, I usually pick up a few things to snack on. I recently picked up a few baby cucumbers, and I think you’ll love what I did with them, especially when you see how easy and tasty they are.
When I started this, I made a list of flavors that go with cucumbers, and it kind of spiraled from there. The refreshing, crisp bite from a cucumber benefits greatly from cream, so I started with a base of yogurt. What plays nicely with cream? Heat, which is what brought me to the Hot Roasted Garlic seasoning blend I got from Ava Jane’s Kitchen. If you’re a fan of red pepper flakes, this blend takes that to a whole new level with the addition of not just garlic, but mellow, laid back roasted garlic. It seems like the heat would overpower it, but it does actually the opposite. I often find that pepper flakes don’t much but add unbearable heat to whatever you sprinkle them on, but this blend adds heat and actual flavor.
When paired with the creaminess from the yogurt, and the cooling factor from the cucumber, it makes a pretty amazing snack. A tiny bit of lemon juice helps bring out all the flavors at once, and it really is a spectacular thing.
