Grocery lists... and pickles

No matter how carefully you write your short grocery list, when you hand it to a man and send him off to the store alone, you never know what will fill the bags that come home with him. Bless his heart.

I needed one red onion. Among the other surprises that came home from the store that particular day, there was a 3# bag of red onions. I used the one that I needed... and then wondered what I could do with the 2.5# still in the bag.

My penchant for clipping recipes actually rescued the situation. Quick Pickled Onions they're called. They are delicious... and beautiful. Best of all - they are easy.

Because the first batch disappeared so quickly, I bought a bigger bag of red onions to make more pickles... in a bigger jar.

While I had the four (that's right 4, plus water) necessary ingredients out, I decided to find out how carrots would respond to pickling. That was an experiment worth repeating.

Here's the original recipe for all of this quick and easy goodness.

Quick Pickled Onions 

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 cup water
1 red onion, thinly sliced (I used my food processor)

Whisk vinegar, sugar, salt, and water in a small bowl until the sugar and salt dissolve. Place the sliced onion in a jar; pour the vinegar mixture over. Cover and let sit at room temperature for 1 hour. (You can make these ahead. They will keep for 2 weeks in the refrigerator.)

I used the same recipe for the carrot rounds (minus the onions, of course) and added a few celery leaves, some peppercorns, and a pinch of crushed red pepper. Those are very good too!

Maybe next time, everything that looks lonely in the vegetable drawer will end up in a jar together. Maybe I'll give it a fancy name .... like Pickle Melange. One thing is certain.... there will be a next time.

Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. Matthew 5:6