Cucumber Roll Ups

Prep time: 20 minutes, plus time to strain the cottage cheese

Spread cottage cheese in a strainer and arrange the strainer over a bowl. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Transfer strained cottage cheese to a food processor (discard liquid in the bowl) and pulse a few times to make a ricotta-like puree. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Starting from one long side, use a vegetable peeler to cut cucumber into long, thin ribbons (the first few will be too narrow, then you’ll get about 6 usable ribbons before they have too many seeds). Turn cucumber and repeat on other long side.

Pat 1 ribbon dry with a paper towel. Spoon about 2 teaspoons of cottage cheese mixture onto end of ribbon. Top with a dill sprig, roll up, and secure with a toothpick. Repeat with remaining ribbons. Makes about 12.

Variations:

Tomato-Kalamata Cucumber Roll Ups: Stir 1 1/2 tablespoons each chopped sundried tomatoes and chopped Kalamata olives into the cottage cheese mixture.

Strawberry Basil Cucumber Roll Ups: Stir 3 tablespoons chopped strawberries into the cottage cheese mixture and substitute basil leaves for the dill sprigs.

Smoked Salmon Cucumber Roll Ups: Stir 3 tablespoons finely flaked smoked salmon (about 3/4 ounce) and 1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh dill into the cottage cheese mixture.