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You Want to Talk About Gravy. Spiced Cucumber Sauce with Coconut Milk. Who knew? the Thais knew.

By Linda Eckhardt on June 14, 2012

You want to talk about gravy. I found a version of this recipe in the June, 2012 Bon Ap where Jody Adams of Boston’s restaurant “Trade”, treats cucumbers as a vegetable. And why not? If you can cook squash, you can most assuredly cook the simple cucumber.

I took this cucumber side dish to the next level by converting it to a spicy sauce to use with roast meat. Makes a perfectly delicious gravy. Yes.

This lovely Cucumber sauce is made in under 15 minutes. Now that’s what I call a win-win. It’s sugar free, gluten free, grain free, but flavor-FULL.

Few days ago, I roasted a pork loin, 45 minutes at 400°F, slathered in a spicy dry rub . So easy, and so delicious, sliced one piece at a time for quick lunches.

But by the third day, I was, I confess getting a bit weary of the poor old thing. But voila! Made this gorgeous Thai sauce and Eureka. That piece of meat was singing high C.

Yes!

Persian cucumbers and tomatoes make a great base for a sauce

Spiced Cucumber and Coconut Milk Sauce

Adapted from Jody Adams, Trade, Boston, as shown in June 2012 Bon Ap

1 tablespoon coconut oil

2 cups ¼-inch thick slices Persian cucumbers

1 cup halved berry tomatoes

4 thinly sliced scallions

2 thinly sliced red Thai chilis with seeds (OR red chili flakes to taste)

1 smashed garlic clove

Kosher sea salt and freshly milled black pepper to taste

1 cup coconut milk

Juice and grated zest of ½ lime

¼ cup chopped fresh mint

Baby bell peppers for garnish

In a medium sauce pan, heat oil over medium heat. Add cucumbers and sizzle until beginning to soften and brown on the edges (3-4 minutes). Add tomatoes and cook 2 minutes. Add scallions and cook 1 minute. Season with salt and pepper. Add chilis and cook another minute or so. Stir coconut milk into the pan. Cook 3-4 minutes. Squeeze lime juice in, then scrape in lime zest. Taste and adjust seasonings. Stir mint in at the last moment, then spoon over hot sliced meats (chicken, pork, fish. You name it, it’s delicious). Garnish with mint sprigs and baby bell peppers. Now that, my friends, is what I call gravy.

Spiced cucumber gravy

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About Linda Eckhardt

Linda West Eckhardt, is an award winning journalist, food writer, and nutritionist. Her more than 20 cookbooks have garnered prizes including the James Beard prize for the best cookbook for a text she wrote with her daughter, Katherine West DeFoyd, entitled Entertaining 101, Doubleday. Their follow-up book, Stylish One Dish Dinners, Doubleday, was also nominated for a James Beard prize. Their next book, The High Protein Cookbook, Clarkson Potter, remains a best seller after 12 years. That book was designed to accompany low carb diet plans. Her ground-breaking book, Bread in Half The Time, Broadway Books, was named the Best Cookbook in America by the prestigious IACP, The Julia Child award. Her award winning radio work with Jennifer English, for a national show on the Food and Wine radio network, was nominated for a James Beard Prize for a show called, “I Know What You Ate Last Summer.”