Quick Pickled Spring Vegetables
April 25, 2012
One trip to the Farmers’ Market is enough to know that spring is truly here. Mounds of fava beans, pea shoots, and strawberries compete for space with kale, beets, and last season’s potatoes. My kids and I headed over last weekend to pick up some fresh foods and the obligatory honey sticks. When we returned home, our house was unpleasantly warm thanks to unseasonably sultry weather. It may have been too hot to cook, but it was the perfect temperature to put together some quick refrigerator pickles.
Pickled Spring Vegetables are an Asian-inspired quick pickle. Quick pickles are a fantastic use for all sorts of vegetables and do not require time or canning equipment. I used Easter egg radishes, fresh nantes carrots, and leeks from our trip to the market, though you could also use cucumbers, onions, daikon radishes, or just about any other vegetable you want to pickle. The brine is based on rice wine vinegar and lime juice that tempers the sweetness. These pickles have hints of flavor from slices of ginger, garlic and cilantro. Slice up the veggies and pour over the brine. The pickles will be ready to eat in under an hour. Letting them sit overnight will intensify the flavor, if they last that long.
Quick Pickled Spring Vegetables
inspired by Food in Jars
makes 3 cups
1 cup thinly sliced carrots (about 2 medium-sized)
1 cup thinly sliced radishes (about 1 bunch)
1/2 cup thinly sliced leeks
2 inch long piece of peeled ginger, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1 cup seasoned rice vinegar
1/4 cup lime juice
3/4 teaspoon salt
Fill a clean quart sized jar with the carrots, radishes, leeks, ginger, garlic, and cilantro. Pour in the rice vinegar, lime juice, and salt. Cover and shake to unify the mixture. Place the jar in the refrigerator and let sit for one hour or more. Store in the refrigerator.
Print this recipe: Quick Pickled Spring Vegetables
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Sweet and Spicy Zucchini Pickles
My Pantry Shelf 
April 25, 2012 at 6:21 am
Love this idea, my Grandma used to make bread and butter pickles using a similar method and they were sooo good. Can’t wait to try these once my carrots and radishes come in, thanks for the post :-)
April 25, 2012 at 2:52 pm
Thanks for sharing, Erin!
April 25, 2012 at 7:07 am
beautiful! i can’t wait to try this!
April 25, 2012 at 10:48 am
Those look wonderful, and so easy! How do you like to use your pickles? Do you eat them plain, or use them as a garnish on something–?
April 25, 2012 at 2:52 pm
Eileen,
These pickles are delicious on their own, but recently we enjoyed them as an accent to grilled salmon and to Sesame Soy meatballs and brown rice. There are lots of options.
Hope that helps!
Karen
April 25, 2012 at 4:01 pm
I adore the simplicity of this – and the beauty. What a pretty glass of spring.
April 25, 2012 at 5:48 pm
What a perfect way to celebrate spring, Karen! I can’t wait for our farmer’s market this weekend.
April 30, 2012 at 12:09 pm
Could you can this for storage? This would be great!
May 2, 2012 at 7:55 pm
Clarissa,
This recipe is not designed for canning. Rice vinegar has a low acidity, generally less than the 5% recommended for safe canning. Also, I think the processing of the vegetables would threaten their crispiness. Here is a great recipe for pickles. You could switch out the zucchini for the spring veggies in this recipe. Sweet and Spicy Zucchini Pickles
June 4, 2012 at 7:24 pm
[…] and carrots languishing at home. They’re so bright, tasty and easy. She got the recipe from this site. I made some minor […]
May 24, 2013 at 7:12 am
Fun idea for spring! How long do you think these would keep in the fridge?
May 24, 2013 at 10:01 pm
I would think they would keep for a few months. I have also eaten all the veggies and them added new veggies to the brine with good results.