Pickled Green Beans .. Pickled Kohlrabi ... Pickle Anything!

As we shelter at home, I have been doing my best to make sure we are eating healthy.  We do get take-out once a week or so for a break from cooking, and we do seem to have baked goods around but I try to offset that with lots of vegetables ... fortunately it's spring and the farmers market has some great product. At the Coronado Farmers Market where I go, most of the the farmers are there, but the organic farm that I buy my greens, root vegetables like radishes and carrots, and random other vegetables has just been offering boxes. From what I have been reading, many small farmers who typically supplied to restaurants are now offering CSA-type boxes.  The boxes I have been getting are wonderful ... 

A long, long time ago I wrote a post on what to do with all the greens from a CSA box, and I have been hitting those recipes and more, like spinach crusted quiche, beans and greens, curried lentils and salads.   I made some calzones with a mixture of greens that came out really nice and will post that at some point. Plus I share some of my greens with a neighbor when there is just too much (she was able the buy a 25 pound bag of flour, which she has shared both as flour and as baked into above mentioned treats).  My box has included lots of beets, last week I got some kohlrabi so I have been doing some quick pickles.  Quick pickles extend the life of vegetables, and are a quick side dish or appetizer.  Pickled kohlrabi goes great with sandwiches (a nice crunchy-salty bite that is not a chip) and pickled green beans are great for picnics and cookouts which hopefully we can get back to this summer!


After lots of experiments, my go-to quick pickle base is 1 cup of apple cider vinegar, 1 cup of water, and 1 tablespoon of salt plus spices. (note - if you are using fine grain sea salt, only use 2 teaspoons as if is more dense). There are lots of variations:  many pickle recipes call for sugar in addition to salt, all types of vinegar (personally I'm too cheap to use expensive wine vinegars, and white vinegar is sometimes a bit sharp), various ratios of vinegar, water, salt, and sugar.  What this means is that most anything works!  I generally add some red pepper flakes to give the pickles a little kick, but do whatever sounds good to you!

Pro tip... if using pint jars, trim the green beans to fit.  Use quart jars if you have long green beans. 

Pickled Green Beans

Makes: 1 quart-sized jar or 2 pint-sized jars

1 pound green string beans

2 cloves garlic

½ teaspoon red pepper flakes

½ teaspoon yellow mustard seeds

½ teaspoon whole black peppercorns

1 cup apple cider vinegar

1 cup water

1 tablespoon kosher salt or 2 teaspoons sea salt

Wash the green beans, and to fit into the jar.  Pack the beans into the jar(s).   Put the garlic, red pepper, mustard seeds and black peppercorns into the jar (if using 2 pint jars, put half into each jar). 

Put the vinegar, water, and salt into a large glass measuring cup, then heat in the microwave until boiling (about 3 ½ minutes or so).  

Pour the hot liquid into the filled jars.   Tap the jars to release bubbles, add more liquid if needed.  You want all of the beans covered.   Let cool on the counter, then refrigerate. 

They need a couple of days to “pickle” but are good for 2 – 3 weeks after that. 

Pickled Kohlrabi

Same as pickled Green Beans, except use 1 large kohlrabi peeled and cut into sticks (like big French fries) instead of green beans.  Omit the garlic and add ½ teaspoon coriander seeds.  

Kohlrabi 

Pickled Beet Recipe coming soon!