Seven Pickling Recipes to Complement Your Spring Cooking
You can pickle pretty much anything.
For a majority of people, quarantine has become an excuse to venture into new cooking projects, such as baking bread or concocting feasts from pantry staples. Now’s the time to add another skill to your repertoire: pickling.
Pickling is the process of preserving your food using one of two methods. One method is more of a science and requires more time and maintenance. That’s fermentation, and it’s how you get foods like sauerkraut and kimchi. The other method, known as “quick-pickling,” can be done with some vinegar and takes almost no time at all. These pickling recipes focus on quick-pickling.
All you need to make these pickling recipes is a tight, sealed jar (such as a mason jar), vinegar, sugar, and some salt.
Photo via A Southern Soul
1. Pickled Corn with Red Onions and Cilantro
The brine for this pickled corn is made with either white wine or apple cider vinegar, sugar, salt, and some lime juice. This corn is an ideal topping for some tacos or could be served as dip with some tortilla chips and guacamole.
Photo via Yummy Mummy Club
2. Sweet and Spicy Pickled Apples
Let these apples sit for a day or two in the jars to let the flavor really come through. The apples are pickled with star anise and rosemary, but feel free to add the herbs of your choice. You can eat these apples on their own as a snack or as a salad topper.
Photo via Girl with the Iron Cast
Pickled red onions are one of the easiest pickling recipes and be used in a variety of different dishes. This recipe uses maple sugar instead of regular sugar, but regular sugar will also work if you don’t have maple syrup. If you’re in a rush, you can dissolve the salt and syrup/sugar in the microwave instead of on the stove.
Photo via Healthy Seasonal Recipes
Rice vinegar, fresh ginger, and garlic are all used to enhance the flavor of the carrots. The recipe calls for peeling or julienning two pounds of carrots, but if you’re in a rush, you can buy the pre-cut shredded carrots from the grocery store.
Photo via Tori Avey
Curry powder and turmeric give this cauliflower a bright color and earth flavor. Store the cauliflower in the refrigerator and use within two weeks. If your jars have a very tight seal, the pickles can last up to a year in a cool, dark place.
Photo via Imperfectly Happy
Garlic cloves, white vinegar, and salt are all you need to make pickled garlic. Try using the garlic in a stir fry or salad dressing, or crush it up and add it to fresh pasta sauce.
Photo via Of Agates and Madeleines
By pickling blueberries, you get a nice balance of sour and sweet. Pickled fruit is an excellent accoutrement for cheese and charcuterie boards, or can be used in a sandwich or on avocado toast.
