In my opinion, cucumbers, (and watermelon and basil) have the best fragrance of any fruit or vegetable.
Taking a big whiff of a freshly cut cucumber is just....so FRESH!! Needless to say, I gave a warm (cool?) welcome to the cucumber as the main ingredient to this week's Steemit Ironchef competition, hosted by 
For this week's entry, I used cucumbers in two ways.
I made a nest of cucumber and carrot noodles, dressed in a bright combination of:
- soy sauce
- rice vinegar
- honey
- ginger
- red chili paste
- cilantro
- scallion
Atop the cucumber and carrot noodle nest, I settled some slices of skirt steak marinated in a simple mixture of:
- soy sauce
- sesame oil
- ginger
- garlic
- honey
I also made some 'forbidden' black rice, and seasoned it with
- sesame oil
- rice vinegar
- honey
- salt
On top of a scoop of the forbidden rice, I set some crispy, tangy tempura cucumber pickles. I made the pickles from cucumbers from our backyard garden this past summer, and they were just wonderful!
And here's my proof photo for this week:
If you're interested in being a part of the Steemit IronChef Competition, don't forget to check out the details at 
@steemit-ironchef. A huge thanks to @progressivechef for coming up with this awesome way to showcase our food creations and build community with each other here on Steemit. Looking forward to continuing this competition!!
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