With the COVID, food shopping is much reduced. Bulking buying means some usually raw consumed vegetables, they may need some cooking since they passed the peak to be eaten raw. Examples are slightly soft cucumbers… Do you have delicious recipes in having them cooked?
Also curious about avocados, can they be delicious when cooked?
Are you cooking these for food safety or because they’re past the peak of freshness? If it’s just a few soft spots you can cut those off and make guacamole or gazpacho.
Some limp veg can be refreshed by soaking in cold water so the cells re-hydrate - for example if your carrots bend instead of snap.
No, not for food safety, not that neurotic yet. 
But I guess there are people doing it for this reason.
Just buying too much, and usually find them forgotten in the drawer at the end of the week! I didn’t know that you can refresh cucumber or carrot, will try.
I like stir-fried cucumbers.
And smashed cucumbers.
Fried cucumbers, yes! I slice them then scorch them in butter, adding dill. A great side dish.
I don’t scorch them, but I peel & seed them, cut into triangular wedges and saute in butter and add dill. I saw this recipe in a Martha Stewart publication and was so curious I had to try it and was surprised how good they were cooked. I like them with salmon.
I never would have thought to saute cucumbers. I am definitely going to have to try that.
That’s a good question. I’ve eaten them my whole life and never cooked them, although avocado oil is one of the oils I cook with. I suppose if I include integrating avocado into a sauce, I’ve used them sort of cooked. If the avocados have turned I can’t think they’d be any better cooked than they would be raw.
@naf, there are avocado soup recipes out there, but not sure if they’re cooked or not. Also, have had a delicious chocolate mousse using avocado, where the slight over-ripeness may not matter. Also have seen and eaten tempura-like fried avocados. Hope this helps. Would def cut the brown spots out, as they do taste funky.
I do smashed cucumbers a lot because it’s a nice simple, but so delicious appetizer and a way to get some fresh, crunchy veggies into the diet. I’m not an avid pickler, but can you pickle slightly soft cucumbers without an adverse effect on the texture? I guess that would be my gut to preserve a lot of possible veggies going bad. I love chili garlic pickled cucumbers.
I make fermented cucumber pickles every summer, and I don’t think trying it with an already-soft cuke is a good idea - they’re gross when they’re mushy (according to me). Vinegar pickles would probably work better.
I think they belongs in the recycle bin.
This reminded me of a thing a friend has told me, that some bad reputation fresh fruit juice store use a mixture of good and bad fruits, overripe fruits that were starting to rot, or some even mushy state.
One tip on avocados, that works for me: When it is at the ripeness you like, pop it in the fridge. It will keep for MUCH MUCH longer this way. I’ve heard the other way works (fridge before it is ripe) but haven’t tried it myself. I can get 1-2 weeks longer out of an uncut avocado this way.
Gee, I can’t see that working at all. The point of putting the ripe avocado in the fridge is that cool temperatures halt the ripening process. You can put the avocado in a paper bag with a banana or an apple to speed up the ripening (cause of the ethylene gas given off by the apple or banana).
Right. Agreed with you but my aunt said she does it.
Though initially skeptical of the recipe, the author of “Julie and Julia” raved over Julia Child’s Braised Cucumbers, an easily googled recipe that allows the cukes to remain reasonably firm while slowly cooking in a buttery sauce. They are fantastic, and it’s one normal sized cuke per single portion.
There is also a recipe on Woks of Life for a traditional style Moo Shu Pork that uses egg, cucumbers and wood ear mushrooms. It looks easy and delish and I’ve been meaning to try it for a while, but I always forget and use up the cukes in smashed cucumber salad.
Here’s another version, too: https://www.chinasichuanfood.com/moo-shu-pork/
