Grilled foods pair exceptionally well with any sort of pickle – the pickle providing a tart explosion of crunch that perfectly foils the rich savoriness of meat off the BBQ; and so every culture that grills meats also tends to steep vegetables in something acidic, to go with that BBQ along the side.

I love all sorts of pickles, but have a special fondness for this very quick to make summer garden refrigerator pickle, ready in just a day and which uses whatever happens to be coming out of your garden, or the farmer’s market, at the moment.

Use whatever you’ve got in abundance, vegetables that go very well in this recipe include:

• Carrots
• Cauliflower
• Fennel
• Sweet red and yellow peppers
• Cucumbers
• Onions or shallots
• Celery

Summer Refrigerator Pickles

• About 1 lb of mixed vegetables, using any from the list above to constitute a pound - Veggies should be cut into bite sized segments
• 1 1/3 cups of white wine vinegar
• 1 quart of water (1000ml)
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 3 Tbls of fine salt (or a quarter cup of coarse kosher salt)
• A couple of fresh thyme sprigs
• 1 whole ancho chili, sliced (you can substitute any moderately spicy dried red chili for the ancho, as desired, or use about 2 tsps of red pepper flakes – or if you don’t like spice, omit completely)
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 1/3 tsps of freshly ground black pepper
• 1 1/3 Tbls of yellow mustard seeds (not powder)

Easy Instructions

1. Mix together the water, the vinegar, and all the herbs and spices and bring to a boil, simmering gently for about 5 minutes.
2. Turn off the heat and toss in all your cut vegetables.
3. Let cool a bit and then transfer to the fridge for next day eating!

These will keep for a few to many days if kept refrigerated.

This is obviously just one of infinite variations. If you don’t care for any flavoring called for, omit, and if you especially like any other spice, add it in. The basic technique is simply to steep some vegetables in some spiced vinegar water overnight – and you can have a lot of fun experimenting with different flavorings to match the meats you’re grilling. Chili heads can swap the sweet peppers with spicier versions, if desired.

Happy gardening and good eating!