#Calories in a cucumber skin#

Ware explained, 'Cucumbers have a cooling and soothing effect that decreases swelling, irritation and inflammation when used topically. It turns out there's science behind this pampering ritual. You've probably seen pictures of people at a spa relaxing with cucumber slices over their eyes. Putting cucumber on your eyes during a pampering routine is backed up by scientific fact. According to a 2010 research review published in Scientific World Journal, scientists have found that, in cell culture that cucurbitacins can help block the signaling pathways that are important for cancer cell proliferation and survival.Ĭucurbitacins can also inhibits the growth of pancreatic cancer cells, according to a 2009 study published in the Journal of Cancer Research. 'Not only are they high in water content, they also contain important nutrients that play a part in hydration like magnesium and potassium.' What phytonutrients are in cucumbers?Ĭucumbers contain two interesting phytonutrient compounds: lignans and cucurbitacins. 'They say we can get 20-30 percent of our fluid needs through our diet alone, and foods like these certainly help,' added Lemond. This makes cucumbers a great way to stay hydrated, especially during the summer. Japanese cucumber skins are relatively thin with a mild to sweet flavor, so no they do not need to be peeled.Nutrition Facts Cucumber, with peel, raw Serving size: 1/2 cup, sliced (52 g) Calories 8 Calories from Fat 0 *Percent Daily Values (%DV) are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.Ĭucumbers are 95% water, according to WebMD. Their flavor is mild, not bitter, so they’re great for salads and adding dressing too, or having on the side for a nice light crunchy texture. They typically are sprinkled with tiny little bumps throughout the body that aren’t prickly.

#Calories in a cucumber skin#

Japanese cucumbers have a green skin like the others. They’re usually around a 12″ long, a bit longer than Persian cucumbers, yet shorter than the very large English cucumbers that you can often find in plastic wrap. Japanese cucumbers are longer and slimmer than typical cucumbers you see at American supermarkets.

If you want a more traditional salad, you can use my Asian salad dressing.When you’re ready to serve, add the dressing then top with toasted sesame seeds, and you’re ready to go! Try my other pickle recipes! Make sure to leave the dressing out on the side if you’re planning to serve it on another day though. Make a double batch and save a second batch for the next day’s meal! It’s much easier to double up than to redo the whole thing when you want it again. Or if you have a simple box grater, that works just fine too! Tips for making cucumber salad Just make sure you have a sharp knife to keep the slices thin. But of course, cutting it by hand with a knife works. I’m not shy about cutting these by hand with a chefs knife, but if you’re going to cut 300 of anything, staying consistency with the thickness takes time to achieve. Also there is a nice aesthetic to the cucumbers using the mandolin slicer since they all come out perfectly uniform.Īnd don’t forget about your food processor! If yours has a thin enough slicer attachment and a feed tube, you can probably slice up 8 cucumbers for this salad in under a minute. This means having a glove and an extra tool to wash, but if you’re making a larger batch, it’s totally worth it. If you have a mandolin slicer with some cut-proof gloves you can make quick work of slicing these up. Whichever method you decide to use, your ultimate goal is to get thin slices of cucumber without any slices of your finger :). I am completely fine using these other varieties because they tend to offer organic cucumbers whereas that can be harder to come by at Asian supermarkets. To be honest I’m not sure if it’s a different variety, but they taste very similar and work great too. Lots of American supermarkets have started to carry these in the last few years too, sometimes referred to as hot house cucumbers. I find Japanese cucumbers at my local Japanese markets, otherwise Trader Joe’s works for the Persian variety.

You won’t even need to remove the seeds, since they’re pretty much non-existant. These varieties are crunchier, and have a thin skin you can just leave on. You want to go for Japanese cucumbers to do it right, otherwise Persian cucumbers do the trick too.