Isn't it hard to make pickles??

A couple weeks ago I was at work at the restaurant. I was doing my morning opening duties and I noticed that our giant jar of Spanish Queen Olives that we use for martinis was almost gone. "Ooohhh", I thought. "That would be good for pickles". So I put a note on the jar for the other girls to save me the jar when it was empty. A couple of them asked me, "isn't it hard to make pickles???" Heavens no. Couldn't be simpler. And pickles aren't just cucumbers. You can use any hard vegetables. Cauliflower, carrots, green beans, zucchini, summer squash, cabbage, turnips, kohlrabi, what have you. What's great about this recipe is that they are ready in 1-2 days and they can stay  in the fridge for 3 months! If they last that long. Due to the massive size of my jar, I doubled this. Just make sure the vegetables are completely submerged in the brine.

YAY PICKLES!

Crispy Pickled Vegetables
recipe from: The Modern Vegetarian Kitchen by Peter Berley

4 cups water
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup coarse sea salt
1 Tbs finely chopped garlic
3 bay leaves
2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp turmeric (optional)
8 cups assorted hard vegetables, but into bite-sized pieces
3 or 4 sprigs fresh dill

1. To make the pickling brine, combine the water, vinegar, salt, garlic, bay leaves, mustard seeds, and turmeric in a saucepan over high heat. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.

2. In a 3 quart glass or ceramic bowl, combine the vegetables and dill - or pack the vegetables into clean mason jars. Cover with the cooled  brine and refrigerate for 24 hours before serving.

Before

After