Cucumber Cups

Who doesn't love being able to eat the serving vessel your meal is held in?  Tacos, chili or spinach dip in bread bowls are all huge hits because you can eat the vessel, or at least that's the way I see it.  So why not spice up your regular chicken salad by serving it in a unique way!  What a great way to trick your kids into eating their veggies than these cute cucumber cups! They are quick, easy and inexpensive (isn't everything on this blog?), and will definitely give your guests something to talk about.

They are so easy in fact that John whipped these up while I was doing my hair for Roman's baptism.  By the time I realized that he was making them he was almost completely finished!  Thankfully he saw the camera sitting on the counter and took some pictures for me.  What a great husband I have!

 

First John removed strips of peel from the cucumber to make it visually appealing (get it a-peel-ing, ba dum bump!).  He then cut the cucumber into cup size sections.  The size of the sections will vary depending on the diameter of the cucumber and the size of serving you are looking for.

To hollow out the centre of the cucumber John used a melon baller.  It convieniently fit perfectly into the centre of the cucumber.  You could use the scooped out insides for a salad, to give to your toddler, or just snack on them yourself.  Why waste good food?

Then simply fill the cups with your chicken salad.  As you can see these cucumber cups were filled "man style" and are overflowing with chicken salad. A little messier to eat but just as tasty!  You could also fill them with a crab or salmon salad.  A super cute idea would be to fill the cups with a cold soup and serve as an hor d'evour for a chic event.  Whatever you decide to fill them with, you want to make these cups the day of your event.  Once you cut and hollow out the cucumber they will become soft and squishy if left in the fridge for too long.  A soft and squishy cucumber is never appetizing.