I’ve been an avid home cook for a very long time — it’s what happens when you’re surrounded by a food-loving French family, an incredible aunt who is essentially a Canadian Martha Stewart (Auntie Jane, shout out to you, you gave me my first cookbook at age 8), and a dad who reads Good Food more than he admits.
Over time, it’s become easy to throw a meal together, and there’s almost always bits and bobs in the fridge you can throw in a Tupperware and call it a meal prep for work. There are some things you can keep on hand that make meal prep a lot more simple, and a lot less boring than chicken, veggies and rice for lunch every day.
With all that said, I thought I’d share a recipe I’ve decided is going to become a staple and essential for my summer lunches: Quick Pickle Veggies. It’s going to add fun and flavour to your meal prep, plus, it’s easy and fast. Keep reading after the recipe to see how it can be used in various meals.
Ingredients | Fills 3 Small Jars
The below will be the base of the brine for your quick pickle. For vinegar, a white vinegar, rice wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar are all fine choices, so choose based on your preference. For the salt, keep in mind this helps to preserve, so I wouldn’t just put a pinch, but anywhere between 2-3 teaspoons is a good amount. For the sugar, feel free to exclude all together, but I find a little sweetness helps balance the acidity and the salt.
- 1 cup of vinegar
- 1 cup of water
- 1-2 tablespoons of sugar
- 2-3 teaspoons of sea salt
If you want to add in some more flavour and aroma, I like to include the following as well:
- 1 teaspoon of peppercorns
- 1 teaspoon of fennel seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon of coriander seeds
- 3 bay leaves
Method
- In a medium saucepan, bring your brine (including the aromatics) to a gentle boil. Let that simmer while you prepare your vegetables.
- Prepare your vegetables by slicing them with your knife or mandolin. Aim for medium-fine slices, you want them thick enough that they have a good bite, but not too thick that their flavour is overwhelming—I like them at 5mm thick, but you may prefer a thinner slice.
- You could pickle virtually any vegetable with this recipe. Good options include: cucumbers, carrots, onions, capsicum, beetroot, radishes, parsnips, cabbage etc. You can also tailor the aromatics to pickle other vegetables or fruits that may require different flavour pairings.
- In a small Tupperware or glass container (glass is better for preserving), place your vegetables. Take the hot brine and ladle on top. Try to split the aromatics equally across the jars.
- Pop the jars in the fridge and enjoy those pickled veggies for up to a week—some sturdier vegetables may last even longer!
Meal Ideas
These pickles can be used in so many healthy ways. You could make a salad, with your choice of green salad, pickled veggies, your choice of protein, like smoked salmon, tuna, tofu or ham, or turn that salad into a tasty sandwich (I love carbs). Soft tacos are a great option too, simply load a tortilla with the pickled veggies, some black beans, a squeeze of lime, some coriander, a dollop of sour cream and whatever protein you’d like—rotisserie chicken can be a cheap and easy option, but beans on their own can be just as filling. You can also make a basic poke bowl or buddha bowl with these, just add a filling grain (like brown rice) and some protein (tofu is my personal fave).
If you try these, let me know what you think!
/ Margot
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