Dilly of a Pickle...

I have been inspired to pickle. And not just cucumbers, but peppers and onions and garlic and radishes! I’ve never pickled a thing in my life, so now seemed like a good a time as ever!

I’ve the good fortune to live in one of the most spectacular cities for fresh, organic produce, so I headed down to the Ferry Building at the Embarcadero this rainy, Tuesday morning to score some of said produce. Ended up impulse buying citrus (which has nothing to do with my pickling adventure), but I also came across watermelon radishes, which I had never heard about until Ms. Mango & Tomato‘s blog enlightened me the other day. I also picked up a few bell peppers, a red onion, shallots and two little chilis.

Got my haul home and set to boiling and peeling, chopping and canning. I decided to try four different recipes and so far they all look really pretty! Can’t wait to try them all!

Here’s the process…

I started out with the watermelon radish, mostly because I was so intrigued… what the hell is a watermelon radish?!

Sliced it in half…

Paused for a moment because I couldn’t believe how pink and lovely it is! Pulled myself together and mixed up 1/2 cup each of rice vinegar and sugar along with 2 tsp of salt in a bowl until the sugar and salt were dissolved.

Then into the jar it went! Easy peasy.

For pickle situation #2, I boiled cider vinegar and honey then poured the hot liquid over my chilis along with a few onions and shallots.

Next, it was time to tackle the bell peppers! Sliced/julienned them and tossed them with the rest of the onion, shallots and a few leftover regular radishes for good measure.

Divided the pepper mixture evenly between the remaining two jars.

The third pickle concoction called for dill, garlic cloves and crushed pepper flakes. I boiled one part white distilled vinegar with one part water and a few teaspoons of salt then poured the hot liquid over the veggies and spices.