Day 8: HOTHOUSE CUCUMBER

The cucumber is a member of the gourd family: it is related to squash and melon as it grows on a creeping vine! The cucumber is technically a fruit, but so are a lot of other "vegetables" that are deemed so because they are not so sweet. Biologically speaking, a fruit is the product of the plant's sexual organ, the flower, and so is the means of spreading the seeds of a plant for its reproduction. This part of the plant is edible by animals (and tastey too!) which leads to a symbiotic relationship between forms of life: the animal gains nourishment, while the plant is able to spread its seed far beyond what would be possible in its immobile state. And most seeds are undigested by the animal's digestive system, which means it exits in an even better position than before it entered: surrounded by fertilizer!

I do not mean to be gross, but I have always been confused by the distinction between fruit and vegetable. In fact all of these "vegetables" are actually the fruits of their parent plants: pumpkins, squashes, tomatoes, peas, beans, corn, eggplant, chilies, various other spices, and cereal grains! Yep, a wheat kernel and a rice kernel are both edible seeds of the whole plant (the "fruit" part that surrounds the seeds -such as peach flesh around the pit- is very thin and inseperable from the seed). So back to cucumbers: whether or not you consider them a vegetable, I'm allowed to include them in my vegetable challenge (especially cause I can't think of any other vegetable starting with "H").

HOW GOOD THEY ARE FOR YOU:

+ 1/2 cup has only 8 calories, which means lots of water content to hydrate your cells
+ has only 1g sugar, no cholesterol, though no dietary fiber or protein. Insoluble fiber still plays a good role in cleaning out our colons though ;)
+ 11% of your daily Vitamin K need, and a little bit of practically every other nutrient your body needs
+ skin contains phytosterols: plant "fats" that reduce blood cholesterol levels in humans
+ contains ascorbic acid (Vitamin C precursor) which prevents water retention, lending to its use for reducing puffy eyes

FUN FACTS:

+ the Hothouse Cucumber is also known as an English Cucumber: it has a thinner skin, fewer seeds, and is longer and thinner than the standard variety
+ cucumbers originated in India, where you can find the most variety of types
+ the phrase "cool as a cucumber" is fitting because the inside of a cucumber can be up to 20 degrees cooler than its surroundings!

I love sliced cucumbers with any sort of dip or vinegar dressing. A new way I tried them here is mixed with some Greek yogurt and dill herb. Deliciously refreshing!