For this dip, I use hothouse cucumbers – the long, skinny cucumbers that are wrapped in plastic in the produce department. Their skin is much thinner and less waxy than reg­ular cucumbers, so you do not have to peel them and they are virtually seedless. Plus, I think they taste better. However, you can cer­tainly use regular cucumbers for this recipe, but you will most likely need two and will definitely need to peel them and spend a little more time seeding them.

When I made this for a dinner, we started off by having it with pita chips, but quickly discovered that it was good with just about everything else on the table, including but not limited to: couscous, roasted potatoes, salad and chicken. The next day we used it on sandwiches and the list continues from there.

This dip comes together very quickly, but I suggest you make it the day before. The dip is even better after the ingredients have had a day to get to know each other.

1 hothouse cucumber

2 (7-oz) containers of plain Greek yogurt (I use Fage 0%)

1/8 to 1/4 cup of sour cream (I use low-fat)

2 tbsp of freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 tbsp of white wine vinegar

1 tbsp of minced fresh dill

1–1 1/2 teaspoons of minced garlic

2 tsp of kosher salt

1/2 tsp of freshly ground black pepper

1. Cut the cucumber in half lengthwise and run a spoon through the center to seed it. Using a box grater, grate the cucumber. Squeeze the grated cucumber between your hands to get rid of the water it contains. This might seem tedious, but the more time you take to squeeze out the cucumber, the less watery and more flavorful your dip will be.

2. Put the yogurt, some of the sour cream (about 1/8 of a cup) and the cucumber into a medium bowl. Add in the lemon juice, white wine vinegar, dill, garlic, salt and pepper. Stir until combined.

3. I recommend starting with less sour cream and less garlic until you taste it. Es­pecially when it comes to the garlic (which is raw and potentially overpowering).

BEER-BATTERED ONION RINGS

The batter on these onion rings is light and delicious. Just be careful with the hot oil while cooking (it can splatter) and after cook­ing, leave it on the stove until it has cooled completely. Hot oil and water really do NOT mix!

Vegetable oil, for frying

1 egg white

1 cup of beer (if you are old enough, of course)

1 cup of all-purpose flour

3/4 tsp of kosher salt, plus extra for sprinkling

2 large onions

1. Pour oil in a medium pot until it is roughly two inches deep. Heat the oil on medium heat.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk the egg white until frothy (white bubbles appear). Stir in the beer, flour and salt. Mix until there are no lumps (or almost none) and set the bowl aside.

3. Slice the onions about 1/3 inch thick. Separate the slices into rings and put them into the bowl of batter. Let the excess batter drip off before putting them into the oil.

4. Set up a baking sheet lined with paper towel, close enough to the stove so that you can easily transfer the onion rings once they are done.

5. Try one onion ring to test if the oil is hot enough. It should take about one to two minutes to get golden brown. If it takes much less time than this, your oil is too hot.

6. Continue to cook the rest of the on­ion rings in small batches, using a slotted spoon to get them out of the oil. Once they are done, put them onto the baking sheet and salt them before adding another batch to the oil. It will look like most of the salt is falling to the tray, but more sticks than you realize. You do not want to over-salt them. Serve immediately.

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