My mom has been making these quick pickles for a number of years now. They’re really good and a great way to use up extra zucchini. Aaron, a self-professed hater of store-bought pickles, enjoys these. Audrey was so excited when we harvested the first zucchini of the season. She begged me to make pickles so I called up my Mom and got her recipe. I thought I’d share it with you. Well, share my variation anyways. I have the hardest time following a recipe exactly. I always feel compelled to substitute in other ingredients. But they’re basically the same as my mom’s. And really good with fried eggs. Or mixed into a salmon salad. Or…well, they’re good with just about anything savory.
They’re a slightly sweet, slightly spicy, slightly sour pickle with a gorgeous color and crunchy, soft texture. I generally dislike sweet pickles and relishes but these I polish off in no time. They keep up to 3 months in the fridge, no canning required. But I suspect you’ll finish them long before that.
Ingredients:
1 lb zucchini, thinly sliced
1 medium onion (we used a few small, fresh onions from the garden), thinly sliced
2 Tbs sea salt
2 cups apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar
3/4 cup honey
1.5 tsp dry, yellow mustard
1.5 tsp lightly crushed, yellow mustard seeds or 1 tsp black mustard seeds
scant 1 tsp turmeric
Directions:
1. Combine zucchini and onion in a bowl. Add the salt and stir. Add 3-4 ice cubes and enough water to cover. Stir until salt dissolves. Let stand at room temperature until soft. Drain the vegetables. Dry them by squeezing lightly in a dish towel and place into two sterilized quart jars.
2. Combine spices, vinegar and sugar in a sauce pan over medium heat. Bring to a boil and simmer three minutes. Remove from heat and let cool until warm to the touch.
3. Pour the brine over the vegetables. Cap the jars tightly. I like to put a layer of parchment paper between the jar and the lid to help prevent the lid from corroding. Refrigerate 1-2 days before eating. Keeps up to three months, refrigerated.
Have any great recipes for preserving extra garden bounty? Do share.
I will definitely have to try these as I LOVE all things pickled. I have a terrible new obsession….garlic stuffed olives. They are so yummy, but the bad breath…yikes! Hope you had a wonderful 4th!
Audrey has been eating raw garlic that I harvested from the garden. By the handful! I imagine a little cartoon cloud of odor following her about. You guys should hang out. She can polish off the garlic-stuffed olives like nobody’s business.
um…that sounds amazing!
YUM!!! Pinning this and will give it a try when the zucchinis are ready, thanks!
Looks INSANELY amazing! Our favorite thing to do with extra zucchini is to make “crab cakes” with them, minus the crab. We just grate the zucchini in a food processor, and season it with old bay, then add it to the crab cake mixture and fry it up.
Yum! That sounds really good. I do a similar thing with canned salmon, making it into salmon patties and frying them up. I’ll have to add zucchini to the next batch. Thanks for the idea.
Although I’m not a fan of anything pickled, I had to comment how beautiful your photos with these amazing colors are! Happy canning!!
No mushrooms or pickles! Well at least we share a love of soft pretzels…
mmmm these look delicious! i’ve been doing fridge pickles for the past few summer, so i think this recipe needs to get into the mix :) especially since they have a bit of sweet to them.
Sold! As I am looking at our 7 zucchini plants that are just starting to load up, I KNOW I have to try these. Yum! Thanks for sharing this great post!