I spent Memorial Day at the beach, and returned to this paved-over swampland ready to dive head first into summer. I’ve dug out my summer dresses, stocked up on cheap flip flops from CVS and bought sunscreen and bug spray while I was at it.

The rooftop pool for my building is open, as is the outdoor dining area, which I’ve taken any opportunity to use — even if it means handing my dinner guests a plate and then leading them out the back door and across the parking lot before allowing them to dig in.

Screen on the Green, D.C.’s outdoor summer movie festival, has released its list of movies, and ideas for potluck picnics on the Mall are already running through my head: cold noodle salads and peach pies and eggplant dip. The Smithsonian’s Folk Life festival is setting up on the Mall, acts for the Capital Fringe Festival are in rehearsal, and I’ve already been to Wolftrap once and have tickets to return.

It’s the time of year when I sweat profusely when running for the bus, only to be hit with the sharp chill of the air conditioning when I enter my office.

What food says “cool” better than that metaphorical cucumber?

The cucumber, a close relative of that other summer staple, the watermelon, has made a several-thousand-year journey from its native India to join us in the Washington metro area as a summertime treat. This slightly sweet, aromatic and delicate squash is a favorite in the Mediterranean, where it pairs beautifully with tomatoes in Israel, grated into yogurt in Greece or atop couscous in Tunisia.

In the States, we like to eat our cucumbers brined in sweet or dill pickle form. I find few sandwiches complete without a healthy topping of bread and butter pickle chips and a crisp dill wedge on the side. But even my love of pickled cucumbers cannot compare with my love for them raw.

They were one of my favorite snacks as a child. I would eat them whole, raw — the fat American kind with dark green, waxy skin and broad, watery seeds. Their delicate crunch is cooling and satisfying and there are few salads or sandwiches to which they are not a welcome addition.

My current favorite venue for these summer treats is this deliciously Asian-inspired salad, which made it into my repertoire after I signed up for a class at my local Whole Foods on cooking with sea vegetables. An admitted novice with all weeds from the sea, I was curious on how to get started with them, and eager to incorporate all their healthful properties into my diet.

Rachel Brummit, personal chef to vegans, vegetarians and celiacs, demonstrated a variety of recipes in our sweaty corner of the store, tucked away by the parking lot and the extra grocery carts.

We rehydrated wakame, which plumped before our eyes and had a satisfying chewiness to it. We ate toasted dulse, which crunched beneath our teeth, and we savored thin strips of arame. All of her recipes were really delicious, but I fell in love with one particular salad, which is a perfect balance of chewy wakame, sweet orange, spicy ginger, salty soy and of course, the fresh crunch of local cucumbers.

Requiring no more cooking than toasting some sesame seeds, this salad is simple, flexible and quite unique — the perfect take-along side dish for an outdoor cookout, or a wonderful accompaniment to seared scallops or poached salmon.

It has almost no fat and is high in vitamins B1, B3, C and calcium. Consider adding edemame or tofu and making a complete meal out of it alone. However you dress it up, whatever you serve it with and whomever you take it to, you’ll hardly break a sweat - perhaps the most important characteristic for a summertime meal.

Wakame Cucumber Citrus Salad

Adapted from Rachel Brummitt

Serves 4, takes 20 minutes

Ingredients

• 6 6-inch pieces of dried wakame (can substitute alaria)

• 2 Tbsp sesame seeds

• 3 6-inch cucumbers (I used the thin-skinned local cucumbers from the market. You could use cucumbers from the store, but if they are large, you might only want to use two)

• 2 navel oranges

• 1/8 red onion

• ¼ c. pickled ginger

• 1 Tbsp soy sauce

• 2 Tbsp rice vinegar

• ¼ tsp sesame oil

• 1 Tbsp mirin

• ¼ tsp Chinese garlic chili paste (can subsitute hot sauce or red pepper flakes)

Submerge the wakame in a bowl of water deep enough to cover all the wakame and let it soak about 10 minutes.

In the meantime, toast the sesame seeds. Put them in a dry sauté pan over medium-high heat, tossing occasionally, until they are aromatic and begin to pop. Set them aside to cool.

Slice the cucumbers length-wise, then cut them in thin, half-moon shapes. Slice the red onion as thinly as you can. Roughly chop the ginger. To prepare the oranges, slice the top and bottom of the peel off the orange, then use a sharp knife to cut down the sides of the orange, removing the peel and the white pith in strips. Carefully cut the orange segments out from between the membrane so that you have whole pieces of meaty orange segment.

Take the wakame out of the water and squeeze dry. (You can use the nutrient-rich soaking water as a base for stock or to water your plants.) Run your knife through it to make ½-inch to 1-inch pieces. Combine the wakame, cucumber, red onion, ginger and orange in a large bowl.

To make the dressing, combine the soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, mirin and chili and whisk to combine. Pour over the vegetables and toss gently to coat while being careful not to break the citrus slices. Sprinkle the sesame seeds over the top. Serve immediately, or cover and store in the refrigerator for up to two days.