Summertime Pickled Veggies

This is a super-quick and super-easy dish to make, whether you're using up leftover vegetables or your garden bounty. The pickled vegetables are great on sandwiches, salads, or even pizza! (Especially on pizza with feta cheese. Yum!)

Even if you've never made pickles before, or even canned anything, you can totally make this recipe!

Easy Pickled Vegetables

• 3 small carrots, sliced thinly
• 2 onions, sliced
• 1/2 green pepper, cut in thin strips length-wise
• pinch mustard powder
• 1 c. water
• 1/2 c. white vinegear
• 1/2 c. apple cider vinegar
• pinch black pepper
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 bay leaf
• pinch of hot pepper flakes

Mix vinegars, water, and all spices (so everything but the veggies) in a bowl and heat in the microwave for 3 minutes. The pickling brine should be nice and hot when you pour it over the chopped vegetables in a large bowl. Make sure to press down the veggies so that they all get bathed in the brine; I stirred and pressed down gently with a potato masher, repeatedly for about 5 minutes. Then I scooped the veggies into sterilized jars, making sure to top up with brine to cover all the veggies in the jar. Let them sit for at least overnight. And then voila — condiment time!

I used these quantities and ended up with just the right amount to fill three half pint jars. Given that I fully expect to eat these pickled veggies within a few weeks, I only sterilized the jars in the microwave. I’ll keep the jars in the fridge until used, but had I done a quick water bath, they would be properly canned and could stay on my cupboard shelves for several months. But they’re too tasty to last that long!

Interested in how I came up with this recipe? I talk more about it on my blog:

http://approachingfood.com/making-the-most-of-leftovers-easy-pickled-vegetables/

Try this recipe out yourself -- you'll be glad that you did, plus you'll have the benefit of knowing that there aren't any nasty artificial chemicals in your food. #realfood #yum