A Homemade Pickle Bar

At Renee's bridal shower this weekend, one of my favorite parts was the homemade pickle bar. When Renee and I go out to eat, if there's any sort of pickle on the menu, we'll order it. Even when we first moved to New York and were broker than broke, there was always room in the budget for splitting a pickle platter, a pot of pickles, or fried pickles. So for her bridal shower, I knew there had to be pickles.



I made quick pickles (meaning they don't have to sit around for weeks before they're ready) with my go-to brine recipe. To make it a pickle "bar" I pickled just about every veggie that looked good at the market that day: cucumbers (of course!), carrots, fennel, radishes and onions. I loved them all, but I think the onions and radishes were my favorite. They turned bright pink!





Quick Pickles
adapted from this recipe by Deb Perelman

1 pound desired vegetable, cut to fit into your jar
1 1/4 cups water
1 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons salt

Place veggies in a heatproof bowl or glass jar. Bring remaining ingredients to a boil in saucepan, then reduce heat and simmer until sugar and salt is fully dissolved, about 2 minutes. Pour the brine over veggies and cool, uncovered. Chill, covered, at least 1 day for flavors to develop.

*I varied the spices I added, depending on the vegetable being pickled. For the carrots I tossed in some pickling spice blend, for the cucumbers I put fresh dill in, for the fennel I used some of the fennel fronds. Feel free to experiment with different herbs and spices!