Friday, November 19, 2010

Pickled Vegetables

When I was on vacation, obviously I brought my Bon Appetit magazine with me so that I could do my Thanksgiving research. What...that isn't what you bring to your paradise vacation? Odd. Anyway, in one of the Q&A sections, a reader asked what new and innovative dishes an aspiring foodie could make to serve at the Thanksgiving tables. The "expert" wisely answered that no one wants you to deviate from the classics on Thanksgiving so don't even bother. What he did suggest, however, was to pickle a few of your own vegetables and serve them with cocktails before the big meal. This is brilliant for two reasons. One: You pickle the veggies well in advance so all you need to do is toss them on a plate to serve. Two: Pickled veggies stimulate your appetite without filling you up. I used carrots, green beans, and a red onion because I like those things and they were on sale. You can use almost any vegetables, but some favorites are cauliflower, green tomatoes, beets, peppers, radishes, and other types of onions. Give these a try to get everyone in the mood for your holiday feast.
Pickled Vegetables
Ingredients:
32 oz. vinegar
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup kosher salt
1 Tbs. pickling spices
1/2 tsp. whole peppercorns
3 fat carrots
1 large red onion
1 cup green beans
1. Peel and slice the carrots into bite sized discs and slice the onion into strips as well. Place them and the beans into their own tupperwear containers.
2. To make the pickling liquid, combine the vinegar, salt, sugar, and spices in a saucepan and cook on medium heat until the sugar and salt are fully dissolved.
3. Allow the pickling liquid to cool slightly and then ladle it into your tupperwear with the vegetables.
4. Put the veggies into the fridge and let them get their pickle on for a few days (or hours would work) until you are ready to serve them up and enjoy.
Obviously this is super easy, as you can see. If you want to can them and keep them for a while, you need to do a few things to make sure that you're container is super clean. If you are keeping in tupperwear in the fridge for a month or so, regular tupperwear will do the trick.

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