“I don’t know about y’all, but when I’m home all day I’m having snacks on snacks. Keeping a continuous stash of pickles in the fridge has me munching on vegetables throughout the day, and they’re an easy-to-sanitize-and-deliver treat for my pregnant doula clients or for the recovering tastebuds of friends who are sick with COVID. I use this recipe to clear out lonely vegetables from the produce drawer of my fridge before my next grocery run and ensure there’s no waste. They are “quick” because they use vinegar instead of salt brine and don’t undergo any fermentation, so they’re ready to start snacking on within a day.”
Note on measurements: I typically don’t measure ingredients when I cook and find that ratios are more helpful for scaling up and scaling down. For this recipe, as long as you stick to a 1:2 ratio of water to vinegar, you can take the freedom to explore different flavorings and vegetable combinations in any quantity. Just remember that you will need around ⅓ of your pickling jars’ volume in liquid--your vegetables will take up the rest of the container. Fill your measuring container with water and dump it in a pot, then fill it twice with vinegar and add it in! If you get stuck with leftover pickling liquid, save it in the fridge for the next batch. I even reuse my pickling liquid between batches while it’s still fresh.
For 2 quart size jars of pickles:
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup water
2 cups unfiltered apple cider vinegar
10 whole garlic cloves, peeled
A small knuckle of ginger, sliced thinly
1 lemon or orange sliced thinly with the rind
1 shallot, sliced thinly
Your pick of spices: bay leaves, whole peppercorn, fennel seeds, coriander seeds, nigella, cardamom pods, cinnamon sticks, chile flakes, the possibilities are endless...
Optional: 1 hot pepper (I use scotch bonnet, serrano, or jalapeño), sliced thin
Enough vegetables to pack densely into your jars: try cucumbers, carrots, okra, beets, radishes, turnips, celery, snap peas, green beans, peppers, cabbage, bok choy, tomatoes, chayote, and on and on. For this recipe, I would recommend staying clear of starchy vegetables that require more cooking time to be easily digested, like potatoes or squash.
RECIPE:
Bring water and vinegar to a boil.
Meanwhile, clean your vegetables with a good rinse and scrub and remove any parts you don’t wish to eat.
Cut veg into spears, rounds, or queer little multifaceted gems or, keep whole. You choose!
Optional: blanche veg. I give okra a quick 30 second dip in salty boiling water to break down some of the tougher fibers. Mushrooms get the same treatment. Anything that is safe and yummy to eat raw, I pickle without blanching to preserve as much crunch as possible.
Pack your jars full of veg. Squeeze in as much as you can!
Tuck in your spices, garlic, ginger, shallots, peppers and rinds, nestling them around your vegetables to get an even distribution of flavor throughout the jar.
Fill with hot pickling liquid.
Optional: sterilize and seal your jars. If you’re not planning to eat your pickles within the next couple weeks, make sure to give your jars in boiling water first, then fill them right up to the neck of the jar and put metal ring lid on while they’re still hot. As they cool, the internal pressure should decrease, creating a vacuum and sealing your lids. You can test them by pressing a lid with your thumb and checking that it does not bounce back.
