Spice It Up! Pickled Vegetables Made Easy

So I’ve gotten into pickling with vinegar. Mainly because real pickling with salt takes a long time and I freaking love vinegar and what it does to vegetables. But all the pickling recipes out there make such huge quantities! So I decided to make up my own recipe for pickling in a 1-quart mason jar. This is incredibly easy and doable in about half an hour, tops. Then you refrigerate overnight, and voila! Crunchy, delicious quick-pickled vegetables for snacks or condiments.

Below is the base for my quart-jar pickling recipe. You might have a little liquid leftover, depending upon how tightly you pack the vegetables, and if you have several types of vegetables that you want to pickle, you can easily double or triple this recipe for multiple jars.

Note: These are NOT shelf stable pickles. You have to sanitize the jars for that, and ain’t nobody got time. These pickles must be refrigerated when you make them.

Quart Pickle Base

• 1 cup organic apple cider vinegar
• 1 cup water
• 2 Tbsp salt
• 2 Tbsp sugar

Although many pickling recipes use white vinegar, I love apple cider vinegar because of its wonderful flavor and its health benefits. It’s also a great household product with multiple uses. My favorite non-food use so far is as a hair rinse (mixed with essential oils to mask the smell) for greater shine and body.

Vegetables

Pickling isn’t just for cucumbers (though those are great!). I’ve found pickling other vegetables is easier, in fact. You want to have about 1 pound of vegetables for quart pickling—enough to stuff the jar tightly. These are some of my favorite pickling veggies:

• carrots
• jalapenos
• radishes
• okra
• hot cherry bomb peppers

Tasty Spices

You don’t want to use all of these at once, but garlic, bay leaves, and black peppercorns go with just about everything.

• 2–3 cloves garlic
• 1 Tbsp black peppercorns
• 2–3 bay leaves
• 1 Tbsp dill
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 whole cayenne pepper
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 Tbsp coriander seed
• 1 Tbsp fennel seed
• 1 Tbsp cumin seed
• 3–5 slivers fresh ginger
• and of course, pickling spice (usually some combination of bay leaves, chilies, cloves, cinnamon stick, ginger, allspice, mustard seed, coriander, black pepper, mace, and cardamom)

Directions

Stuff a quart mason jar with vegetable and spices of choice. Mix vinegar, water, salt, and sugar in a saucepan and boil, stirring until salt and sugar are dissolved. Place jar in sink, and pour vinegar mixture into jar until completely full. Wipe the outside rim of the jar with a paper towel and seal tightly with lid. Then REFRIGERATE. Remember, these are NOT shelf-stable pickles. They are “quickles,” and they must be refrigerated when you make them.

Here are some of my most recent pickles:

Spicy Pickled Okra

• 1/2 lb. okra (approximately)
• 2 fresh cayenne peppers
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 Tbsp red pepper flakes
• 1 Tbsp black peppercorns
• 1 Tbsp dill
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup organic apple cider vinegar
• 2 Tbsp salt
• 2 Tbsp sugar

Stuff a quart mason jar with okra, cayenne peppers, garlic, and spices. Boil vinegar, water, salt, and sugar. Place jar in sink, and pour vinegar mixture into jar until completely full. Wipe the outside rim of the jar with a paper towel and seal tightly with lid. Refrigerate at least overnight before eating.

Pickled Radishes

I got some beautiful Easter egg radishes from the Clemson Area Food Exchange. I made a very simple and delicious pickle before finding another amazing recipe (below) that I can’t wait to try next!

• 2 bunches radishes (about  ), trimmed and sliced
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 Tbsp peppercorns
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup organic apple cider vinegar
• 2 Tbsp salt
• 2 Tbsp sugar

Stuff a quart mason jar with radishes, garlic, and spices. Boil vinegar, water, salt, and sugar. Place jar in sink, and pour vinegar mixture into jar until completely full. Wipe the outside rim of the jar with a paper towel and seal tightly with lid. Refrigerate at least overnight before eating.

This recipe turned out very stinky (though delicious), so next time I might try some sweeter spices suggested in Chef Kevin Johnson’s recipe of The Grocery in Charleston, SC: star anise, ginger, garlic, jalapeno, mustard seed, coriander seed, and red pepper flakes.

Pickled radishes are great on their own or with tuna salad!

Pickled Cherry Bomb Peppers

These peppers are hot!—but absolutely delicious. Once they’re pickled, you can try scooping out the seeds and stuffing them with fresh baby mozzarella (bocconcini) wrapped in prosciutto.

I got my inspiration for this recipe from Martha Stewart’s Pickled Hot Cherry Peppers.

• 3 cloves garlic
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 Tbsp peppercorns
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup organic apple cider vinegar
• 2 Tbsp salt
• 2 Tbsp sugar

Stuff a quart mason jar with radishes, garlic, and spices. Boil vinegar, water, salt, and sugar. Place jar in sink, and pour vinegar mixture into jar until completely full. Wipe the outside rim of the jar with a paper towel and seal tightly with lid. Refrigerate at least overnight before eating.