By: Cheri Browne | September 19 2011
Posted in Rogue Valley - Cook It - Rogue Valley

Pickled beans and cucumbers with garlic.  Photos by: Cheri Browne

When it comes to preserving some of your garden bounty, pickling is a great and tasty way to go. Green beans, cucumbers and beets are just some of the easiest, most delicious things to store in a jar with some flavorful brine. All are great for snacking, as a side dish, or as a tangy addition to burgers, sandwiches or salads. Refrigerator pickling is an easy and fantastic way to forego the time-consuming process of canning and the results are just as good! The process is so quick and easy, you’ll want to pickle just about everything!

Join The Local Dish as we get pickled! Read on for tips and recipes.
The pickling and preserving possibilities are endless when it comes to what to use. Cauliflower, carrots, peppers, asparagus, eggs, even fruits like pear and watermelon are some of the great things you can experiment with. The health benefits of pickled and fermented foods are great as well. Research shows that they promote digestive health and potentially lower cholesterol.

Pickled beets with onions. Perfect for adding kick to sandwiches!

Whatever you decide to preserve to carry your produce into the fall and winter months, remember that when food is pickled, the acidity created (either by adding vinegar, or by natural fermentation) is what prevents harmful microorganisms from growing. So, when making refrigerator pickles, the amount of vinegar added is important for the process to be a healthy one, so follow whatever recipe you use well!

To pickle our cucumbers and green beans, we used the same recipe for both. The brine consists of 1 quart vinegar, 1 quart water, ¼ cup pickling spices, 1/3 cup pickling salt, 2 tablespoons turmeric and 1 ¼ cup chopped fresh dill heads. Simmer all these ingredients together for about 5 minutes. When it’s done, pour the brine into quart jars full of cucumbers or beans, chopped garlic, fresh dill, and a pinch or two of red pepper flakes and a jalapeno or habenero pepper depending on your spice tolerance. Let sit in refrigerator for at least 2 weeks to 1 month, the longer the better! This recipe makes 4 quarts.

For our beet brine we used 1 cup red vinegar, 1 cup honey, ½ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon cinnamon and ½ teaspoon cloves. First, boil about 4 bunches of small beets in water, whole for about 45 min. During the last 5 minutes, add sliced rings from 6 small onions to the pot of beets. Set 1 cup of this water aside to use in the brine. Once the beets are cool, peel, slice and add them to quart jars with onions. Add brine ingredients to pot and bring to a boil. Pour over beets and let sit in fridge for about 3 days before digging in! This recipe makes 2 quarts.

Have you ever tried pickling? Let us know in the comments!

Pickle and bean recipe is a variation adapted from Jan Roberts-Dominguez’s recipe, which appeared in The Register Guard August 25, 2010. Beet recipe is a variation adapted from the blog justeatfood.com

Cheri Browne is a writer, photographer, reveler of Southern Oregon and enamored connoisseur of all things West Coast.

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