Cucumber Rounds with Sunflower Seed Pate
A soft, lemony pate of soaked sunflower seeds, dill, and nutritional yeast, spooned onto cold cucumber rounds so every bite is creamy against cool and crisp.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
This is what I make when I want something that looks like party food and takes almost no work. The seeds soak overnight while you sleep, the pate comes together in a food processor in three minutes, and the cucumbers take five minutes to slice. It is cool, savory and green, which is exactly what you want in July when the idea of turning the oven on is unbearable.
Soaking is what turns sunflower seeds from something gritty into something creamy. Overnight in cold water the seeds swell and soften, so the blade can break them all the way down rather than leaving sand in the bowl. The nutritional yeast brings a savory, almost cheesy depth, the lemon lifts it off the palate, and the dill keeps the whole thing tasting green rather than heavy.
The pleasure here is the contrast. Cucumber is mostly water and shatters cleanly under your teeth, while the pate is dense and rich, so every round gives you both at once. Sunflower seeds carry real fat and protein, which is why a plate of these holds you the way a plate of plain cut vegetables does not. I salt the rounds lightly and let them drain so they stay firm under the topping.
Ingredients
- 2 large cucumbers (about 1 1/4 lb), chilled
- 3/4 cup raw sunflower seeds, soaked overnight
- 1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 small cloves garlic
- 3 tbsp chopped fresh dill, plus more for the top
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
Instructions
- Soak the seeds: Put the sunflower seeds in a bowl, cover them with cold water by two inches and leave them on the counter for at least eight hours or overnight. They will swell and lose their chalky bite. Drain them and rinse well. The soaking water goes down the sink.
- Slice and drain the cucumbers: Cut the cucumbers into rounds a little under half an inch thick. Lay them on a paper towel, sprinkle very lightly with salt and leave them for ten minutes, then blot the tops dry. This pulls out the surface water so the rounds stay crisp and the pate does not slide off them.
- Build the pate: Put the drained seeds, garlic, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, olive oil, salt and pepper in a food processor. Run it for a full minute, stopping twice to scrape the sides down. It will look like wet sand before it turns creamy, so keep the machine going past that stage.
- Adjust the texture: With the motor running, add cold water a tablespoon at a time until the pate holds a soft peak on a spoon, about the consistency of thick hummus. Too stiff and it tears the cucumber, too loose and it runs straight off. Two to three tablespoons is usually right.
- Fold in the dill: Pulse the chopped dill in at the very end, three or four short pulses and no more. Blending it fully turns the pate a dull gray-green and flattens the flavor, while pulsing leaves flecks of dill you can see and taste in every bite.
- Assemble: Spoon or pipe about a teaspoon of pate onto each cucumber round, top with a little more dill and a crack of pepper, and serve within the hour. Assembled rounds start weeping after that, so top them in the last few minutes before people arrive.
Variations
- Herb swap: Use fresh mint and parsley in place of the dill for a brighter, more summery pate.
- Smoky pate: Add smoked paprika and a pinch of cayenne to the processor for a warmer, deeper spread.
- Sun-dried tomato: Blend in a few oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes. The pate turns coral and picks up a sweet, concentrated edge.
- Radish or endive: Swap thick-sliced radish or whole endive leaves for the cucumber when you want a peppery or bitter base.
- Loose dip: Thin the pate with more water and lemon and serve it as a dip with the cucumber cut into spears.
Storage & Leftovers
The pate keeps in a sealed container in the refrigerator for four days. Press a piece of parchment right onto the surface before the lid goes on, or the top dries into a skin you then have to stir back through. It thickens as it sits, so loosen it with water before serving.
Store the cucumber rounds separately, in a container lined with a paper towel. Cut cucumber gives up water steadily and the towel takes it up, so the rounds stay crisp for a day or two rather than sitting in a shallow puddle of their own liquid.
Assembled rounds do not hold. Within two hours the salt in the pate draws water out of the cucumber and the whole tray goes wet. Keep the two parts apart and assemble in the five minutes before you serve, which takes almost no time once the pate is made.
Notes & Tips
- Soak longer than you think: Eight hours is the floor. Twelve gives a smoother result with no extra work.
- Use cold cucumbers: Straight from the refrigerator they slice cleanly and stay snappy under the topping.
- Salt and blot: Ten minutes on a paper towel with a light salting is what keeps the rounds from weeping.
- Scrape the bowl: Sunflower seeds climb the sides of a processor. Stop and scrape down at least twice.
- Add water slowly: You can always loosen a stiff pate. Tightening a runny one is much harder.
- Pulse the dill: Three pulses at the very end keeps the color bright and the flavor sharp.
Nutrition & Mindful Eating
- Cucumber and sunflower seeds are opposites and that is the point of the dish. The cucumber is almost entirely water and gives you the cold, clean crunch, while the seeds bring the fat and protein that turn a tray of sliced vegetables into something that eats like an actual snack.
- Sunflower seeds soften completely after a night in cold water, which is what lets them break down into something creamy, and the fat they carry brings vitamin E along with it.
- Cucumber is mostly water, which is why the rounds stay so cold and shatter under your teeth, and the skin is worth leaving on because that is where the color and most of the crunch live.
- Nutritional yeast is what makes the pate taste savory rather than simply nutty. It brings a rounded, almost cheesy depth, and it carries a useful amount of several B vitamins along with that flavor.
- Dill folded in at the last second stays flecked and green, and the lemon juice cuts through the richness of the seeds, so what could easily be a heavy spread tastes fresh and sharp on the tongue.
- As you eat, notice the cold snap of the cucumber before the pate turns creamy on your tongue, and let the dill and the lemon register properly before you reach for the next round.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use pumpkin seeds or cashews?
Both work. Pumpkin seeds make a darker, greener pate with a stronger flavor and need the same overnight soak. Cashews soak faster, in about four hours, and give you something noticeably sweeter and smoother. Sunflower seeds sit between the two and are the cheapest of the three.
My pate is gritty. What did I do wrong?
Either the soak was too short or the processor did not run long enough. Seeds need a full eight hours to soften through, and the machine needs a solid minute of continuous running. If it is still gritty, add another tablespoon of water and run it again for a minute.
Can I make this for a party the day before?
Make the pate the day before, absolutely. It is better after a night because the garlic mellows and the dill spreads through it. Slice the cucumbers the morning of and assemble in the last few minutes so the rounds are still snapping when people pick them up.
What is nutritional yeast and do I need it?
It is deactivated yeast sold as yellow flakes, and it tastes savory and slightly nutty in a way that rounds out the seeds. You can leave it out and the pate still works, but it will taste flatter and you will find yourself wanting more lemon and salt to compensate.