I used to think that making homemade pickles was too complicated, but it is not!! You can make a quick pickle and forget about all the canning process, wich that was the part I was so afraid of.

This recipe can be applied to almost any vegetable using our pickling spice, and I'm going to give you some tips on what you can do with it beside pickles.

These quick-pickled vegetables are pickled in vinegar, water, and salt. We don’t need the canning process because they are meant to be consumed in a short period of time. However, they do not develop the intense flavor that the canned pickles have.

Get your vegetables ready:

• Always try to find fresh vegetables.

• Almost any vegetable can be pickled.

• Choose the shape you want to give to your vegetables, they can be cut in slices or coin shape.

• Your carrots need to be peeled.

• Green beans and asparagus can be blanched in boiling water for two minutes and then shocked in ice water.

Brine:

For quick pickles, a basic brine is equal parts of vinegar and water. You can use any vinegar, apple cider vinegar, white wine vinegar, rice vinegar, all works well. Avoid using aged or concentrated vinegar like balsamic or malt vinegar for pickling.

How to Pickle any Vegetable:

Ingredients

• 1 lb fresh vegetables, such as cucumber, carrots, green beans, summer squash, or cherry tomatoes.

• 2 springs of fresh herbs, such as thyme, dill, or rosemary. (optional)

• 1 to 2 teaspoons of pickling spice

• 2 cloves of garlic, smash or sliced (optional)

• 2 dry chiles (optional)

• 1 cup of vinegar of your choice.

• 1 cup of water.

• 1 tablespoon of kosher salt or 2 teaspoons of pickling salt.

• 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar.

• 2 wide-mouth pint jars with lids.

Instructions

1. Prepare the jars. Wash the jars and the lids in warm, soapy water and rinse well. Set aside to dry.

2. Wash and dry the vegetables. If you are using carrots, you need to peel them. Trim the ends. Cut vegetables into desire shapes.

3. Add the herbs, garlic, chile, and pickling spices into the jars.

4. Pack the vegetables into the jars, making sure there is a 1/2 inch of space from the rim of the far to the tops of the vegetables. Pack them in as tightly as you can without smashing.

5. Place the vinegar, water, salt, and sugar in a small saucepan over high heat. Bring to boil, stirring to dissolve the salt and sugar. Pour the brine over the vegetables, filling each jar to within 1/2 inch of the top. You might not use all the brine.

6. Gently tap the jars against the counter a few times to remove all the air bubbles. Top off with more brine if necessary.

7. Place the lids on the jars and screw on the rings until tight.

8. Let the jars cool to room temperature. Store the pickles in the refrigerator. The pickles will improve with flavor as they age, try to wait at least 48 hours before cracking them open.

Tips to use pickling spice:

If you have a lot of pickling spice and don't feel like you want to make more pickles, you can use it on your soups, or it goes really good with Indian, Mexican, and Moroccan cuisine. It contains all the ingredients I always use in almost all my cooking. You can use whole pickling spice or use mortar to grind slightly. Add it to your curries, stews, beans or you can use it to make corned beef.