HOW TO MAKE REFRIGERATOR PICKLED VEGGIES

Refrigerator pickles are just as easy as they sound – no canning or pressure cooking involved.  No scalding hot water baths.  No recipe requirements really.  Just sliced veggies, some spices and a vinegar/sugar/water mix that is brought to a boil and poured over the top.  Cover the jars and into the fridge they go!

You can pickle any vegetable you have on hand, so next time you find yourself with a handful of sad looking veggies, don’t waste them, make pickles! Preserve your extra garden produce without making a big production out of it.

You can use any vegetable and spice you have on hand, and you can combine veggies and spices in one big jar if you want.  The vegetables will pickle almost immediately, but are much better once they have time to sit and cool completely, about 24 hours.

Dill Pickle Recipe

Yield: 1 quart

5 medium cucumbers or other veggie of choice 1 Tablespoon pickling salt, sea salt, or kosher salt (but not iodized table salt) 1 cup cider vinegar 1 cup water 1 head dill or small bunch dill leaves 1 clove garlic (optional) 3 black peppercorns (optional)

1. For the crunchiest pickles, select firm, dark-green pickling cucumbers that have not started to ripen to white or yellow. Cut them into spears or slices, as desired (left whole, they will take a long time to pickle in the fridge). To increase the crunchiness, you can sprinkle the cut cucumbers with a couple of tablespoons of salt, let them sit for 2 hours, and then rinse and drain before proceeding, but this step isn't absolutely necessary.

2. Prepare a quart jar with a lid by running it through the dishwasher or washing it in very hot soapy water and letting it air-dry. Any jar with a lid will do; the wider the opening, the easier. Place the dill in the bottom of your jar, peel and crush the garlic clove (if using), and drop that in along with the peppercorns (if using), then put in the cut cucumber. Mix the salt, vinegar, and water in a separate container, stirring until the salt is dissolved, then pour it over the cucumbers, filling the jar right to the top. If you're in a hurry to enjoy your dillies, heat the vinegar, water, and salt to a boil before pouring it over the cucumbers (just know that heating unpasteurized vinegar kills off the healthy pro-biotic bacteria that make pickles good for you). Pop on the lid and put the jar in the fridge.

Variations: try snap beans, zucchini strips, or a medley of whatever veggies you have on hand.

Sweet Pickle Recipe

Yield: 1 quart

3 cups sliced cucumbers, Peppers or other vegetable of Choice 1 cup sliced onions (or half onions and half green pepper) 1 clove garlic, peeled and sliced (optional) 1 Tablespoon pickling salt, sea salt, or kosher salt (but not iodized table salt) 1 cup cider vinegar 1¾ cup white sugar or ⅞ cup honey, or stevia to taste 1 Tablespoon whole mustard seeds 1 teaspoon ground turmeric ½ teaspoon celery seed 2 cloves, whole

Prepare jar and veggies as for dill pickles. Combine the remaining ingredients in a stainless steel saucepan, bring them to a boil, and simmer until the sugar or honey is dissolved. Put the veggies into the jar and pour the vinegar mixture over them, stirring to make sure all veggies come in contact with it. Cover and refrigerate.

Variations: Relish: If you remove the center seeds and pulp from cucumbers and dice them up with onion and a small red bell pepper, and substitute a pinch of ground cloves for the whole cloves in the sweet pickle recipe you'll get a tasty relish. And you can make all sorts of relishes by dicing vegetables (just one type, or a mixture) to use in either of the basic recipes.

Reuse Pickle Juice Last, but not least: After you chase down the last (homemade or store-bought) pickle in the jar, STOP—don't dump that juice! It's all ready and waiting (and in a jar already, no less) for another batch of pickles. Just slice or chop up fresh veggies and drop them into the jar. The pickle juice should completely cover the veggies. If it doesn't, take out some of the veggies or add a bit of vinegar, and shake. Screw on the lid and put it back in the fridge. Let the juice soak for a few days and then, enjoy! Continue to reload the jar as long as the pickles' flavor continues to please you.