Quick Pickled Green Beans

Any time is a good time for pickles, but now is a great time. There has been so much baking, heavy, rich, and time consuming foods in the past month that I think everyone could use themselves a good helping of veggies and maybe a little brightness, like a good pickled green bean. Freshy, crisp, and clean. A jar of happy green goodness. (Don’t you describe jars of pickles just like that, a happy green jar of goodness?)

Around there parts, it’s kind of a holiday tradition with the mr to get a jar or two of pickled beans. I don’t know exactly how it started, but they are something that he has been getting every year. So this year instead of buying him a jar, I just made them. And let me tell you, it is a heck of a lot cheaper to make your own then it is to buy them, plus I think mine taste better if I do say so myself. These pickles are of the refrigerator kind so there is no processing or stress of bad seals. Nope, these pickles take all of 15 minutes to make, a day to pickle up nice and good in the fridge, and that is that. Ready to go, ready to eat. A small task, nothing fancy, nothing a small child could not handle (um.. well I would not let a small child near boiling water so nix that but a medium to large child, yeah sure.)

Pickled green beans. You know you want them so go and make them.

To the pickled beans!

The stuff. Fresh green beans, white vinegar, salt, peppercorns, garlic, dill and a dried cayenne pepper. The dill and cayenne pepper are optional and you can use any spices you want, but these are good ones to try.… Next batch I am going to do fresh turmeric and ginger, see how that comes out.

The hardest and not hard at all part. Blanch the beans. Basically just toss the beans into a boiling pot of water for 2ish minutes then scoop them out into a bowl of ice water. Easy peasy.

Jar preparation. I figured I would do two flavors, a spicy cayenne and a dill. (Cayenne for me, dill for the mr) Both jars get a chunked up glove of garlic and some slightly smashed up peppercorns. The hot pepper goes into one and the dill into the other.

Then make the brine. Just boil the vinegar with salt. Nothing fancy.

You got the jars ready and the brine made so now you just pack the two jars with the blanched beans. You might need to snip a few in order to fit, but I just eat those ends anyway so I am doing myself favor here.

Then you pour equal amounts of the brine into the jars then top off the the jars with ice water. Place a lid on those suckers and give them a good shake and into the fridge they go. 24 hours give or take and that is that.

And now you got pickled green beans. The question is weather you eat a few at a time or if one jar constitutes a vegetable serving and you eat the whole jar at once.

I say eat the whole jar. Not like it took very long to make right? So maybe you just a few extra jars.

Have a lovely weekend.

-C

---

Quick Pickled Green Beans

maks 2 pint jars

• 1 pound green beans

• 2 cups water vinegar

• 1 1/2 - 2 cups cold water

• 2 teaspoons salt

• 1 teaspoon whole or slightly crushed peppercorn

• 2 big cloves garlic

• A tablespoon dried dill and a dried cayenne pepper (optional)

Rinse green beans. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and grab a large bowl and fill with cold water and a few ice cubs. Place half the green beans in the boil water and let cook for about 2 minutes. Scoop them out and place into the bowl of ice water. Repeat for the second half of beans.

Place the vinegar and salt in a small pot (or use the pot you used to boil water) and bring to a boil. Set aside

Grab 2 pint jars making sure the are nice and clean. Peel and cut the garlic into a few pieces and place into the bottoms of the jars. Add the dill to one and cayenne to the other (or whatever spices you do or don’t want to use) Give each jar some of the peppercorns then start packing the balanced beans into the jars. Try to make them all straight so you can fit in as may as you can, and if the bean is to long, just cut to fit (eat the ends) Once both jars are packed pour equal amounts of the vinegar brine to the jars. Top off each jar with cold ice water. Place a lid on the jars, give it a good shake and place jars into the fridge for 24 hours. After the wait, pop the lid and eat.

Pickled beans will last about a month in the fridge but really, if you have them for more then a week, that is just a shock.

Note about lids. I use plastic lids when dealing with anything acidic. The metal lids will work but will rust after a while and sometimes leaves metallic taste. If you only have metal lids, use a piece of wax paper in between the kid and jar.

Rhubarb Coleslaw

There seems to be a misconception about rhubarb., that it is only good to eat if it's in a pie. I have offered many a people a few stalks over the past few weeks but everyone says that they don't want to make a pie (but I could make one for them) My response is always "make your own damn pie!" and "do you really think that pie is the only way to eat rhubarb?" They answer with yes. Oh my oh my people, your missing out.

So here I am telling you that rhubarb does not need to be made into a pie (but is great made into a pie) Rhubarb is so much more then that and can be used in all sort of sweet things, but also all sorts of savory things too. Like this slaw. Mixing some fresh rhubarb into an ordinary bowl of veggies brings a nice bright tart freshness that taste like spring and all things good.

And if you, like me, have a shit ton of rhubarb growing in the yard, you find all sorts of great ways to eat it up.

Rhubarb coleslaw. Keeping things fresh.

The stuff. Rhubarb, cabbage, a couple carrots ans an onion. Apple cider vinegar, salt and pepper, a lemon and some honey to round it all out.

Start by heating up the vinegar. This can be done on stove or in the microwave... I used the microwave (one less dish) Once the vinegar is good and hot, mix in the honey until it dissolves

Thinly slice the rhubarb stalks then cut into short pieces.

Rhubarb goes into bowl to get the fist soak of the warm vinegar.

Julienne or finely chop the cabbage, onion, and carrots into pieces that you think will fit into your mouth nicely.

All those veggies join the rhubarb in the bowl. In goes the zest and juice of lemon and some salt and pepper.

Toss it all around.  And let sit. 20 minutes, 3 hours, or overnight. This is one of those salads that tastes better with a time.

But you can eat it whenever because it will taste good whenever.

Enjoy the weekend, eat some rhubarb.

-C

---

Rhubarb Coleslaw

• 2-3 stalks rhubarb
• 1 small or half or a large head of cabbage
• 1 small red onion
• 2 carrots
• 1 lemon
• 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon honey or agave
• salt and pepper

Place vinegar in a microwave safe dish and heat for about 2 minutes. Or you can also heat it in a pot on the stove. Place hot vinegar in a large bowl and mix in the honey until it's fully dissolved.

Slice the rhubarb stalks thin and short. Place rhubarb into warm vinegar, mix around and set aside. Shred the cabbage, thinly slice the onion, and julienne or thinly slice the carrots and cut into short pieces. Place all this good stuff into the bowl with the rhubarb. Add in the zest and juice of the lemon and sprinkle with about a teaspoon each of salt and pepper. Toss it all around and let it sit for at least a 20 minutes so all the flavors meld together. Serve cold or at room temperature.

Tastes even better made a day ahead and places in the fridge.

Spinach Asparagus Springtime Salad

As I was sitting at the table making this simple little ode to spring salad, it started to snow outside. "Look away", I told myself. "Pretend you didn't see it." Well, I saw it then, saw it before bed, and when I woke up this morning , there was (and still is)  a few inches of fresh white covering up my hopes of a warm spring day. I have to admit that it is really very pretty, but what the hell.

This salad is all spring. Fresh spinach from the farm, asparagus in abundance every store I go to. Simple, crisp, refreshing. A nice change from a winter heavy with roasted roots and thick stews. I don't know about you, but this is the time of year that all I want to eat are fist fulls of fresh green stuff. (I could insert a picture here of me sitting on the couch munching away from a bag of baby kale, but I won't. You don't need to see that)

Now if it would just stop snowing and be spring for real, that would be great.

The stuff. Fresh spinach. tender asparagus, a lemon, and salt and pepper..

Snap off the woody ends of the asparagus then dice up the rest.

Toss the chopped up asparagus in a bowl with spinach. Squeeze the juice of the lemon all up in that and sprinkle with salt and pepper. That is it.

Fresh, green, springtime goodness in a bowl.

-C

---

Spinach Asparagus Springtime Salad

• 2 large handfuls of fresh spinach
• 10 ish spears of fresh asparagus
• 1 lemon
• salt and pepper

Wash and dry spinach ans place in bowl. Snap off woody end of asparagus (I save this bits for soup) and chop up the rest into mouth sized pieces. Toss the chopped asparagus into bowl with spinach. Squeeze on the juice of the lemon and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.

Eat.

Straight Up Zucchini

Summertime is here, which means the days are long and hot, the drinks are cold and sweaty, and for the most part, people seem more relaxed and happy. And it also means we are growing and getting the bestest and freshest produce, including zucchini.

Yes! it's zucchini time!

You might remember from last summer that I am kind of a zucchini junky. As soon as it starts to grow, I am eating/ hoarding it. I grow it, get tons from my farm share, and will happily take any or all of your extra zucchini that you can't seem to eat. (I take all veggies for that matter) All of the surfaces in my house are covered with baskets full of zucchini. Open the fridge, a few zucchini will most likely fall out. Want to sit at the table to eat, you are going to have to move the mounds zucchinis to get to it. (No joke) It's just so dang good and can be made into just about anything.

But with all the recipes with zucchini, all the ways to add it to this or make it into that, I think people tend to forget that zucchini can be just that, zucchini. Yes it is good to noodle with sauce or puree up with lentils, but honestly I think my most favorite way to eat it is just as it is, straight up raw zucchini, maybe a sprinkle of salt and pepper and if I have it on hand, a squeeze of lemon of a splash of vinegar. Nothing fancy (although you can make it look fancy) The best of summer,  pure and simple.

So not really a recipe here, just reminder that sometimes simple can be the best and that zucchini can be eat plain and raw and that it's delicious.

Keep it cool. Keep it simple.

-C

---

Straight up Zucchini

• fresh zucchini
• salt ,pepper
• lemon juice or vinegar (optional)

cut zucchini (if you feel like cutting it) anyway you want. Place on a plate and sprinkle with salt, pepper and a splash of vinegar or lemon juice.

Eat.