Quick dilly pickled beans to keep in the refrigerator.
Looking back on my post titles it would seem that I’ve become a food blogger, but that’s not really true. It’s just that the summer time offers so much gorgeous fresh produce, and a little less structured schedule, so that there’s opportunity to experiment in the kitchen, don’t you agree?
* you can do this! *
So this story begins with us finally jumping on the bandwagon of ordering weekly boxes of fresh produce. I’m sure many of you are familiar with the concept, and the produce might be local and/or organic. Sometimes they work by subscription or on a co-op basis. Anyway, in our neighbourhood there’s a food bank depot that includes fresh produce, and to subsidize their runs down to the Food Terminal you can order a box of fresh produce from them to pick up once a week. #winwin The fun part is you never know what’s going to show up in your box, but so far it’s been amazing, and keeps you out of the rut of buying the same thing every week on your routine grocery run.
* new ideas for the fresh produce box *
But when a one-pound bag of green beans showed up in our produce box, I wasn't entirely sure what I wanted to do with them. Honestly my repertoire for vegetables in the summer is a) chop them into a salad or b) throw them onto the grill. (I know, you’re much more creative than I am…) Obviously, Pinterest to the rescue, and I found this recipe for Quick Pickled Beans.
* i almost copied a recipe but not really *
Then somehow between midnight browsing on the internet and the bringing groceries home I bought dill seed instead of mustard seed. #honestmistake Still full of enthusiasm I went ahead anyway just substituting the dill for the mustard and truly, they turned out amazing. I sit them out on the counter while making dinner for those pre-dinner munchies (instead of the Miss Vickies Sea Salt and Malt Vinegar chips which I may or may not usually eat right around then). Also I’ve put them out as part of a cheese board or even just a condiment at supper and they’re a big hit.
So here you go with the super easy instructions for making one big-ish jar…
How To Pickle Beans to Keep in the Refrigerator:
1. Wash and trim your green beans to a length about an inch less than the height of your jar.
2. Meanwhile, boil a solution of one cup water, one cup white vinegar and two tablespoons salt.
3. Into the bottom of your jar add a whole peeled garlic clove, nine peppercorns and one and a half teaspoons dill seed.
4. Pack the beans into the jar as tightly as possible. They look pretty and professional when they’re all a similar length and standing up together. #freetip
5. Add the boiling solution into the jar to cover the beans but still leave a half inch of space to the top.
6. Close up the jar.
7. Leave them for about a day in the fridge to begin the pickling process, then start snacking!
Remember, these aren’t the real kind of properly canned pickles. Don’t put them on a shelf and forget about them till Christmas. Keep them in the fridge and use them up within a week or two. The longer you keep them, the more pickly they’ll be. #thatsawordright?
* happy ending *
Bonus Tutorial:
Some of these photos I took quickly with my iPhone, just in case my experiment actually worked out. #whichitdid. This is how I edit my iPhone photos. But if you love taking these kinds of backlit photos with a DSLR like I do, I gave you some tips using these exact jars in this post here.
…and don’t go away yet…
If you wanted to make these to give away to a friend, it’s super-easy to package them up to look pretty if you keep some basic gift-packaging supplies on hand. I share my must-haves in this post: Top 5 Supplies for Easy Personalized Gift-Giving. I made mine just for me. Sorry friend, maybe next time…
* pretty enough to give away *
Thanks for hanging out in the kitchen with me. Don't forget to follow me on Pinterest to see tons of great food inspiration plus a whole lot more... and do you order a fresh produce box too? What are your tips for using up everything you get? Let me know in the comments below…
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