If you were to open up my refrigerator right now, you would probably find at least 6 different jars of veggies in various stages of pickling. I adore pickling. Love it with a passion. There is no quicker or easier way to preserve vegetables. When my CSA overloads me with something, I invariably slice it up, blanch if needed, make a quick pickling brine, put the veggies in a jar, pour the brine over them, and store in the fridge. Now, the veggies that I was under the gun to eat in a week or two can now sit for a month or two in my fridge and be eaten at leisure.
But even with all this pickling going on, I still find the need for a quick pickle every now and then for a super fast side dish. Enter Mark Bittman and his Quick Pickled Vegetables from How To Cook Everything: Simple Recipes for Great Food. I used cucumbers for this and they came out delightfully crisp, a little salty, a little sweet. This will be my go-to quick pickle from now on!
Quick Pickled Vegetables
- 1 pound cucumber, zucchini, summer squash, or eggplant
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh dill, or 1 teaspoon dried dill
- 2 teaspoons any vinegar
Wash the vegetables, peel if you’d like and thinly slice (a mandoline is recommended, but I just used my mad knife skills). Place them in a colander and salt them, toss them and sort of rub the salt in and over all of them.
Let them sit for 15-30 minutes, tossing and squeezing every few minutes. When they stop oozing liquid, rinse them well in cold water and place in a bowl.
Toss them with the sugar, dill and vinegar, and serve immediately, this does not keep well.
This will be my entry for I Heart Cooking Clubs!
And Real Food Wednesdays
And Two For Tuesdays
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That pickle looks gorgeous - really, fresh, crisp and light - I can imagine those with beautiful fresh brown bread. Yum!
Sue
I have really been into quick pickles this summer and these ones sound great!
Ooh, I almost made these last week! I have a few cucumbers lying around, so now I just have to do it!
These are easy and would go great with a lot of things. First thing that comes to mind would be some Greek or Turkish kabobs. Yum!
Another easy summer favorite!
I'm getting overloaded with veggies from my CSA, I will need to try pickling them. I remember my gramma used to pickle back in the day. I just love dill!! Thank you for the recipe!
i love pickling stuff 🙂 this looks gorgeous 🙂
Yum! I need to do more pickling--I love them too. This is a great pick for raw foods week. 😉
I never knew how to make this. My mom would tell me it's easy, you just do this and that. Thanks for making a printable instruction. Now to find the cucumbers.
we've been getting tons of cukes from our CSA this year. i usually make a spicy salad with rice vinegar. yours looks great!
Wonderful looking cucumbers. I've always loved pickled things as well and look forward to doing a lot of serious pickiling this summer.
pam's a pickler. pickle-y pam. i've heard a little pickling lime makes the crunch really stand out--worth a try, no? 🙂
My husband loves cucumbers in vinegar with just a little pepper but they're a little too tart for me. I think I'd like this, though. I'm going to make this for our next cookout...thanks for mentioning that it isn't a good keeper, though. I'll make it just before we need it.
I'm on the hunt for a spicy pikling recipe for beans and veggies....my husband needs his fix - lol.
I'll show him this one, Pam.
I make these and put them in rice wine vinegar diluted with a little water (about 3/1). The rice vinegar is a little sweet so I don't add any sugar. They keep for weeks. When the cukes are gone you can use the solution for more batches for about 3 weeks. So good and pretty good for you!
I made this pickle recipe awhile back and it was my very favorite too! My mom and I ate the whole bowl in one setting:)
that looks great.....do they taste like half sour pickles?
Honestly, Pam, how DO you get those photos of Smudge??
Loving the simple pickled cucumber recipe....
Yum. that sounds good. I don't like a lot of pickled things. I like them if they are nice and fresh though.
In my house, nothing languishes long enough to need to be a pickle. So I'm happy to admire yours.
Pickles don't get any easier than this. I think I'll use some rice wine vinegar.
Thanks for reminding me to do this... my kids love anything pickled.
I have a bunch of cucumbers that I need to do something with, this is great.....they will bre great with sandwiches.
Nice quick pickle recipe and a great way to use up the mounding pile of cucumbers on my counter!
Hi Pam, That looks easy---and I'll bet they are really good... Thanks for the recipe.
Hugs,
Betsy
You know Pam, I love pickles and this is a great way to get that perfect crunch without all the fuss of canning. Thanks for sharing!
The humble cucumber transformed!
I'm so glad you posted this! I've been looking for a good pickle recipe...and a quick pickle is even better!
I love cucumber pickles, but I can't seem to grow dill in my garden, and I can never find beautiful cukes AND dill at the farm stand at the same time. Nice to have a recipe on hand that can use dried dill. It's not my first choice, but sometimes, a girl just has to have a pickle....