½ Village Farms Luscious Seedless Long English® cucumber. peeled
3 ounces freshly squeezed lime juice
4 tsp. dragon fruit powder
3 ounces tequila
2 Tbsp. simple syrup, or more to taste (equal parts sugar & water)
1 Tbsp. granulated sugar
1 Tbsp. dragon fruit powder
1 lime wedge
Instructions
Cut the cucumber into chunks and place in blender jar. Puree until smooth, pushing down on the cucumber if necessary.
Combine half of the cucumber puree, half the lime juice, half the dragon fruit powder, half the tequila, and half the simple syrup in a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake vigorously.
Combine the dragon fruit powder and sugar on a small plate and mix well. Use the lime wedge to moisten the edge of 4 tumblers, and dip and rotate in the sugar mixture to coat evenly. Fill the glasses with ice.
Pour the cocktail into 2 of the glasses and repeat with remaining ingredients to make 2 more. Garnish the cocktails with a cucumber spear dipped in dragon fruit powder.
Start off by making your cucumber juice: take a cucumber or two and place in a high-powered blender like a Vitamix. Pulse blend on high until cucumber is fully blended and only juice remains. Set aside.
Next, take a strainer, milk nut bag, etc. and strain cucumber juice into a glass or jar, discarding any pulp.
Now let’s make your syrup: combine sugar and (strained) cucumber water in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir constantly until sugar starts to dissolved.
Continue cooking until sugar is completely dissolved. Adjust temp as needed. You do not want to burn sugar mixture!
Once sugar mixture starts to bubble, reduce heat slightly. Then continue cooking until mixture is completely clear, and all sugar is dissolved into a syrup.
At this point, you want to add any flavorings or color. We used peppermint flavoring, and added a couple drops of green food coloring to bump up the color.
While waiting for sugar to dissolve, prep sticks. Dip the top part half (or less) of the stick in your sugar mixture. Then carefully roll the coated part of your stick in sugar.
Using a candy thermometer (or comparable) check temp. Once temp is 220 degrees proceed to carefully pour mixture into 1-2 jars.
Now, using a clothespin, suspend stick in the syrup in your jar as shown. Be careful to make sure that stick is ¾ of an inch or more from the bottom of jar. Set aside.
Finally, wait! This process usually takes at least five days, but can take longer. Make sure your jars are set aside in a place where they will not be disturbed.
Once you see that crystals have formed, and you are happy with the size of them, you can carefully remove your rock candy sticks from the jar. After removal, suspend in a separate, empty jar to dry.
2 Village Farms Luscious Seedless Long English® Cucumbers
2 Tbsp. Lime Juice
¼ Cup Sugar
¼ Cup Water
3 Oz. Gin
Instructions
Make rosemary simple syrup by combining sugar, water, and rosemary sprigs in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Stir until sugar dissolves and then turn off heat and let steep for 10 minutes. Remove rosemary sprigs and chill.
In a blender combine cucumbers (ends cut off), lime juice, 2 oz. of simple syrup and gin and blend until smooth.
Strain the mixture and pour over ice into two glasses.
Garnish with fresh limes, rosemary, and cucumber slices.
Farro Grain Bowl with Heavenly Villagio Marzano® tomatoes
Author: Diana Chan
Cook time:
Total time:
Yields: 2
Ingredients
1 cup uncooked Farro, rinsed
½ Cucumber, sliced
½ cup Village Farms Heavenly Villagio Marzano® tomatoes
1 cup Chickpeas
1 cup Arugula
½ Avocado, sliced
1 Round Radish, sliced
2 tablespoon Red Vinegar
3 tablespoon Olive Oil
2 tablespoon Lemon Juice
½ teaspoon Dijon Mustard
Pinch of Salt and Pepper
Instructions
Rinse and drain farro. Place in a pot and add 3 cups of water.
Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium and simmer for about 30 minutes. Drain any excess
water. Let cool to room temperature.
Start with a base of arugula in a bowl. Add farro, cucumber, chickpeas, round radishes, avocado, and Village Farms Heavenly Villagio Marzano® tomatoes.
In a bowl, combine red wine vinegar, olive oil, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, salt, and pepper.
On a skewer place whole wheat bread (sliced into fourths), Village Farms Heavenly Villagio Marzano® Tomato, deli turkey, romaine lettuce, cubed cheese, crispy bacon and another piece of whole wheat bread on the other end.
Fill remaining spaces of bento style lunchbox with other items listed.
In a cocktail shaker, muddle cucumber slices with sugar until the cucumbers exude their juices. Add the remaining ingredients into the shaker and fill with ice. Shake vigorously and strain into a cocktail glass rimmed with salt (optional). Garnish with a cucumber slice.
Preheat the oven to 350F. Brush the pita breads on both sides with olive oil and sprinkle with a few pinches kosher salt. Slice each pita into 8 wedges with a pizza cutter. Place the wedges on a baking sheet and bake until golden and crispy, about 20 minutes. Allow to cool slightly, then break the wedges into irregular pieces.
Meanwhile, mince the garlic, then use the flat blade of your knife to scrape it into a paste. In a medium bowl whisk together the garlic, ¼ cup lemon juice, ½ teaspoon kosher salt, cinnamon, allspice, maple, and several grinds of black pepper. Gradually whisk in ½ cup olive oil a tablespoon or two at a time until a creamy emulsion forms.
Drain and rinse the chickpeas, shaking off as much water as possible. In a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat. Add the chickpeas, cumin, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, and several grinds of black pepper and sauté for 5 minutes until the chickpeas are golden and warmed through.
Chop the romaine hearts. Slice the tomatoes in half. Dice the cucumber. Thinly slice the scallions and radishes; slice the radishes in half. Thinly slice the mint leaves. To serve, place the greens in the bowl and arrange the vegetables, chickpeas, and toasted pita on top, adding a few pinches of kosher salt to the tomatoes and cucumber. Drizzle with dressing and garnish with mint and lemon zest (or sumac, if desired).
Cut the avocado in half and brush it with olive oil, salt, and pepper.
Grill the avocado by placing it cut-side down on the hot grill/pan and not moving it for 1 minute.
Gently remove avocado from grill, coarsely chop, sprinkle with the juice of ½ the lime and reserve.
Roughly chop the cucumber, kale, and mint. Combine all in a large mixing bowl.
Peel down the Brussels sprouts into leaves and add to bowl.
Add the avocado to the bowl.
–15 minutes before serving, squeeze the remaining lime juice into the bowl, add the remaining olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Hand toss to mix.
Plate the salad by pooling the cucumber yoghurt in the center of the plate, spreading it out, then dropping your olive oil and lime-dressed salad in the center, then topping the salad with pumpkinseeds.
(If you’d like to step it up a little, you can use pumpkinseed oil, which is a beautiful, nutty-tasting oil, and drizzle it through the cucumber dressing.)
Mix all ingredients together. Chill if possible for about an hour to let flavors blend. Serve at room temperature with pita bread or pita crisps (baguette slices in lieu of pita)
