This is a refreshing summer dish that is quick to prepare and vegan friendly.  Full of crunch and flavour, these creamy cashew cucumbers have a delicious texture with a hint of spice from the chilli and ginger.

Serves 4

Preparation time: 10 minutes + overnight soaking of cashews

140 g raw cashews

1 cup boiling water

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon grated ginger

½ red chilli finely sliced and deseeded

1 lime zested and juiced

3 tablespoons of soy or almond milk

2 Lebanese cucumbers sliced into 2-3 cm rounds and deseeded

1. In a heatproof bowl pour boiling water over the cashews and set aside for a minimum of 4 hours or overnight
2. Drain cashews and discard water.
3. Wash the cucumbers and chop in rounds of around 4 cm thickness.  With a chopstick or spoon handle push out the seeds so that you have a clean round area and discard the seeds.
4. In a food processor blend the cashews and the milk until smooth.  Add the salt, lime zest and juice, grated ginger and a few slices of the chilli (reserve some of the chilli slices for decoration).
5. Spoon or pipe in the cashew cream into the cucumbers and top with a little of the lime zest and the remaining chilli slices.  Keep refrigerated until you are ready to serve

Cooks notes;  A quick and mess free way to pipe the cashew cream is to spoon the mixture into a zip lock bag and cut a small hole at one end of the bag on an angle.  Ensure that the seal is zipped closed and squeeze the cashew cream to the cut corner of the bag. You are now ready to pipe the cashew cream into the cucumbers.