Pickle It!

Ingredients

1 cup hot water

1 cup vinegar, ideally something clear and mild

1 tablespoon kosher salt

1 tablespoon sugar

Vegetables, for pickling

Experiment with fresh add-ins like smashed garlic cloves; slices of ginger; rosemary, thyme, or dill sprigs; or strips of citrus zest.

Optional dried add-ins include peppercorns of any kind; mustard, coriander, or caraway seeds; dried chiles or chili flakes; 1 teaspoon ground turmeric or paprika.

Directions

In a large bowl, mix the hot water, vinegar, salt, and sugar until the salt and sugar dissolve, then taste. If it's too tangy, add more water. If it's not tangy enough, add more vinegar. If you like a sweeter pickle, stir in more sugar. You get the idea.

Cut your vegetables into bite-size pieces (or keep them whole if you think it looks nicer). Hard vegetables like beets and carrots will be easier in thin slices or shreds; soft vegetables like cucumbers and zucchini be kept in larger pieces or cut into spears, rounds, or chunks. Dump them a quart container and fill to the top with the brine. (This amount usually works, but it will depend on the size, shape, and amount of what vou'e pickling, so be flexible. The nice thing about a ratio is that it can easily be scaled up or down depernding on how much you have to pickle.) If you're doing multiple vegetables, you can pile them into one container or split them among smaller jars, up to you.

Sometimes we stop here and just keep it simple. Other times we raid the fridge and spice drawer and see what for flavoring. See what might be good what vou have from our list of optional add-ins or what else looks good in your kitchen.

Let the pickles sit at room temperature until cool, then transfer to the fridge. We try to give them at least a day for the flavors to develop, but we've been known to sneak some after an hour or so in a pickle emergency.

Notes

When you've got so much produce that you're shoving bags into your fridge like the overhead compartment on a packed airplane, think pickles. When you've got just a few lonely vegetables (or even fruits!) that you've ignored for weeks, think pickles. Now, if you're up for canning and long-term storage, good for you. You'll have beautiful jars of fresh produce in your pantry through a time-honored tradition of preserving and canning, But this recipe is all about quick pickles that can be put together in no time at all and then live in the refrigerator for a month or so, maybe more. Pickled bits add a welcome pop of brightness and acid to just about every meal sandwiches, tacos, savory pancakes, the list goes on.

There are infinite combinations for pickle brine out there, varying your types of vinegar, spices, herbs, and ratios. We'll give you a starting point, then you can adjust depending on how tangy you like your pickles and what you have in the kitchen. We usually use unseasoned rice vinegar or apple cider vinegar they're relatively neutral and inexpensive-but you can use what you like, as long as you keep the color and flavor in mind. We start with a very basic brine that we call the 1:1:1:1 ratio.

NO-WASTE TIPS

If you have a small amount of veggies to use up, like a quarter onion or half a carrot, make virtually instantaneous pickles to eat right away. Slice thinly, top with a pinch each of salt and sugar, cover with a tablespoon or two of vinegar, and let sit while you make the rest of your meal.

You can reuse the existing brine from a store-bought pickie jar! Once you're done with the pickles, briefly boil the brine, then use it to pickle another jar of vegetables.

Source: Perfectly Good Food, by Margaret Li and Irene Li