Quick Pickled Summer Vegetables
Quick pickles are one of my favourite ways to add colour, flavour and plant variety without reinventing a meal. They can make everyday eating feel more interesting and enjoyable, which counts for a lot in my book.
Bright and still slightly crunchy, they are a lovely light way to use the elderflower vinegar I made a couple of weeks ago, but you can use apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar if you haven’t.
THE SECRET INGREDIENT: Time
Leaving the vegetables to sit allows them to soften slightly and absorb the lightly floral sharpness of the elderflower vinegar while still keeping their crunch. Sometimes the best flavour comes not from adding more, but from giving ingredients a little time to get to know each other better.
Serves: 2
Prep and cook time: 10 minutes to prep, plus some time for it to sit - 30 minutes to 2 days
Ingredients
2 tbsp elderflower vinegar, or use apple cider or white wine vinegar instead
1 tsp golden or light brown sugar
A good pinch or two of sea salt (my current favourite is Cornish sea salt but use yours)
5-6 radishes, depending on their size, thinly sliced
2 spring onions, thinly sliced
1 medium-large new season’s summer carrot, peeled into long ribbons or thinly sliced
¼ cucumber, thinly sliced
½ small or ¼ large fennel bulb, very thinly sliced - halve the bulb lengthways, then cut out the little tougher ‘v’ shaped solid bit at the base, before slicing
1 good tbsp fresh dill fronds, picked off any tough stalks, to serve
2 tbsp roughly chopped fresh mint, (or use other fresh leafy herbs of choice, e.g., parsley, basil, chervil, fennel fronds), to serve
Drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, to serve
Other veg you could add or use instead:
Courgette ribbons or thin slices
Sugar snaps/mangetout, sliced thinly
Green beans - sliced thinly
Asparagus ribbons - use a peeler to shave it down into ribbons (a bit fiddly bit doable, nice with really fresh asparagus)
(Avoid anything cruciferous though like broccoli or cauliflower - too dominant)
Method:
Whisk together the elderflower vinegar, sugar and sea salt - the sugar dissolves in the vinegar.
Add the vegetables and turn them all well, to coat them in the vinegar mix.
Leave them for at least 30 minutes, at room temperature. This allows the vegetables to soften slightly and absorb the floral sharpness of the vinegar while still retaining plenty of crunch. You can eat them this quickly or pop them in the fridge and leave them for longer (which I personally prefer, 1-2 days is my sweet spot), they will keep well in the fridge for up to 2-3 days. I usually give them an extra turn or so to make sure they’re evenly pickling.
Just before serving, scatter over the dill fronds and mint and drizzle over a little olive oil.
Ways to use them:
Alongside grilled fish or cooked poultry (alongside anything, really)
As a starter salad before your main meal
Piled onto an open cheese sandwich
Tossed through cooked and cooled noodles (with some cooked and drained chickpeas or beans for extra protein) and a little tamari and lime juice to taste (a great quick summer lunch alternative to a sandwich)
Stirred through butter beans, cannellini beans, chickpeas or lentils for an easy light meal - add fried tofu cubes, some chilli flakes too if you like
Served as part of a mixed salad plate
Alongside eggs or an omelette, or scrambled tofu (great for breakfast, too!)
Tucked into wraps alongside your favourite filling - I really like them with hummus
With new potatoes
As part of a summer picnic spread or BBQ side
