Bite Of Minnesota: Red Onion Pickles
It's officially garage sale season! I saw my first sale of the season over the weekend and got quite giddy with excitement. Tables and chairs waiting to be refinished flooded the yard while rows of knickknacks led into the garage, all treasures waiting to be found by the right person.
Some of my favorite things have been found at garage sales. Unique kitchen tools like my old-time manual food processor used for quickly grating cheese or potatoes, wooden wine boxes are great for both storing wine and decorating, and thanks to garage sales I have a decent collection of cigar boxes for storing little things around the house.
My most used purchase has to be the Very Vegetarian cookbook that I picked up for $1. At the time I had no clue that "very vegetarian" actually meant "vegan" as I was simply attracted to the wide array of vegetable focused recipes. Over the years I've cooked my way through the book and recently made a recipe that quickly became a favorite: Red Onion Pickles.
Not only are these pickles easy to make, they are a great accompaniment to many dishes and I've found myself eating them raw, adding them to tacos, and making quick snacks of baguette slices, cream cheese, and red onion pickles.
Red Onion Pickles
(from Very Vegetarian by Jannequin Bennett)
3 large red onions, peeled and cut into slices
½ cup + 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
¼ cup water
¼ cup sugar
¼ tsp salt
1 whole clove
3 black peppercorns
In a small saucepan, combine vinegar, water, sugar, salt, clove, and peppercorns. Bring the mixture to a boil.
Divide sliced onions between 2-3 Mason jars and pour hot liquid over onions. Stir gently and let cool slightly on the counter before sealing jars and storing in the refrigerator. Let onions sit at least one hour before using. Onions should keep for a couple of weeks.