cucumber = cuke =  garden cucumber = market cucumber = common cucumber = regular cucumber = outdoor cucumber = field-grown cucumbers  

These gourd relatives are crisp, cool, and juicy, mild flavor and nutritional content.  A slicing cucumber = table cucumber is usually served raw in salads, sandwiches, drinks, sushi.  Pickling cucumbers  are usually smaller than slicing cucumbers, and often have thick, warty skins. 

You can find these throughout the year at all but the most poorly stocked markets.  The ones you find in supermarkets are usually waxed to hold in moisture and improve shelf-life--these should be peeled or at least scrubbed well before serving.  Unwaxed cucumbers don't need to be peeled, but better cooks often do so since the peels tend to be thick and bitter.  It's also a good idea to remove the seeds from these kinds of cucumbers; just cut them in half lengthwise and scrape them out. Select cukes that are firm, dark green, and rounded at the tips

Japanese cucumber

This foot-long slicing cucumber is pricier and less flavorful than other varieties, but it has less conspicuous seeds, a thinner skin with bumps and a plastic wrapper--instead of a wax coating--to improve shelf life.  All of this saves preparation time, since there's no need to peel or seed the cucumber before slicing it.  This is a good variety if you focused on looks--you can cut it into round, green trimmed slices. ;

Tomatoes

With their rich flavor and mild acidity, tomatoes have worked their way into thousands of recipes.  You can eat them raw in salads, salsas, or sandwiches, cook them to make sauces, stuff them and bake them, or grill them on skewers with other vegetables. 

There are many varieties of tomatoes, among them are  grape tomatoes,  sauce tomato, teardrop tomato and cherry tomato are less than an inch in diameter, perfect for adding to salads or crudité platters, or grilling on skewers.  There are both red and yellow varieties. Green tomato are picked before they turn green. Southerners like to fry them. Slicing tomato = globe tomato , these large tomatoes are best for sandwiches and grilling.

Bell pepper

Red and yellow peppers are riper, more flavorful, and pricier than the more common green ones. You can occasionally find bell peppers in other colors as well, like brown, white, pink, orange, and purple.  ;