Have any left over produce or veggies from this summer’s late harvest? Try pickling! Pickling can be a fun activity for the family, a great hors d’oeuvre to impress the in-laws, or just another way to show off your culinary skills.

Popular Pickling Products

Pickling is a flexible art, just don’t over season and it’s hard to go wrong. Pickling comes in so many flavors that you can pickle just about anything: green tomatoes, squash, banana peppers, cucumbers, carrots, hard boiled eggs, okra, green beans, jalapeños, and so much more. Pickling produce might not be as hard as you may think. Here is a simple recipe that can be tinkered with to give your produce whatever flavors you want. This recipe may be added to or reduced as needed.

Simple Recipe

The ingredients you’ll need:

• 4lbs of produce (the more crisp, the better)
• 2 ¾ Cups vinegar (rice, white or red wine are fine too)
• 3Cups water, and ¼ Cups sea salt (not iodized)

Common pickling spices:

• Coriander
• Fennel
• Dill
• Dried red peppers
• Black peppercorn

 

1. Clean your jars. It’s best to go ahead and do this even if you went out and bought new jars. Boil each jar and lid for several minutes to sterilize.

2. As the water warms, rinse and chop your produce however you like

3. By now the water should have been boiling a few minutes, turn down the heat. For safety, wear silicon gloves as you remove the glassware with tongs

4. Set the glassware on a clean towel and add in some spices to the bottom of the jars, but make sure there are enough spices to top off the jar as well

5. Cover jars with hot towel or foil

6. Begin boiling the vinegar, water and sea salt. Stir until the sea salt is completely dissolved into the mix

7. Add your veggies into the jars

8. Pour the vinegar solution over the produce until there is ¼- ½ inches of space at the top of the jar (MAKE SURE: the jars and the vinegar solution are about the same temp or else the jars will crack/explode)

9. Twist on the lids tight

10. Boil jars for several minutes to seal them off completely (MAKE SURE: there is at least 1 inch of water over each lid)

    1. The longer you boil the jars the less crisp the pickle

11. Pull the jars out and let them cool down and wait to hear a popping sound from the lids, before refrigeration

 

Pro Picklers

Most local farmers markets and their vendors will sell pickled produce at this time of year. Buying your desired pickled produce locally supports both the farmers growing the produce earlier this summer, the picklers lending their skills and the community as a whole.

B & K Garden Fresh Produce offers the widest selection of pickled produce this author has ever seen. True to the community, all produce was either grown themselves or purchased locally to pickle. You can find them at the Canyon Farmers Market up until October 11, 2015.