Quick pickles

Quick pickles

Prepare: less than 30 mins
Cook: no cooking required
Serve: Makes 1 small jar
Dietary: Dairy-free Egg-free Gluten-free Nut-free Pregnancy-friendly Vegan Vegetarian

Brighten any dish up with these sweet and sour, crunchy quick pickles. You can go for the classic onions and cucumbers or try carrots, fennel, even root vegetables like swede and celeriac.

Equipment: You will need a very clean 350ml jam jar.

By Dr Rupy Aujla

From Thrifty Cooking in the Doctor’s Kitchen

Ingredients

For the vegetables, choose from

1 red onion, thinly sliced
¼ cucumber, thinly sliced
1 carrot, peeled into strips with a vegetable peeler

For the pickling liquid

2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
125ml white wine vinegar, plus extra depending on your jar

Method

Put your chosen vegetable into a bowl and sprinkle over the sugar and salt. Massage the vegetables gently for a few minutes then squeeze out the excess moisture.
Pack into the clean jam jar and pour in the vinegar, plus any extra to half-fill the jar. Top up with water so that the vegetables are covered, seal with a lid and shake to combine. Leave to stand for 20 minutes before eating. Kept refrigerated the pickled will last 2 weeks.

Recipe tips

These are fresh pickles so best eaten within a week or so.

This brine also pickles radishes, fennel, green beans, red cabbage, kohlrabi and young turnips.