Winter Pickled Veggies-Foodie Friday

How many times do we see a recipe in a magazine and tear it out, never to think of it again. I do it all the time. I found this recipe when doing a final look through a copy of Southern Living. I tore it out and made it a few days later. I followed the recipe with just a couple of "tweaks".

Ingredients:

10 cups assorted raw vegetables cut into bite size pieces (the recipe called for 8 cups-you could even use up to 12 cups). I used broccoli, green beans, carrots, red and yellow peppers and brussel sprouts. Cauliflower, radishes, Swiss chard stalks, sliced parsnips and sliced fennel are also suggested.

2 cups apple cider vinegar

2/3 cup white sugar

1/4 cup kosher salt

1 tsp. mustard seeds

1 tsp. fennel seeds

1 tsp. mixed colored peppercorns (the recipe called for black peppercorns)

1/2 tsp. dried crushed red pepper

(the original recipe calls for 3 garlic gloves which I did not use-I was going to use garlic powder, but decided not to)

     Bring vinegar, sugar, salt, mustard seeds, fennel seeds, peppercorns, red pepper (garlic if using it) to a boil in a large nonaluminum pan over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Boil 1 minute, remove from heat and cool for 30 minutes.

     Blanch the veggies (I did not blanch the peppers) by plunging into boiling water for 1 minute, draining and immediately placing into a large bowl filled with water and ice to stop the cooking process. Drain.

     Place veggies in large bowl or covered container. Pour vinegar mixture over the veggies and toss. Let stand for 1 hour. Cover and chill. The recipe says to chill overnight...I didn't. We had them for dinner a few hours later. The veggies will keep up to a week in the refrigerator. We really liked the combination of sweet, tart and slightly salty.

     I am linking this to Foodie Friday. Please join our hostess Michael at Designs by Gollum where you will find links to some of the best recipes in Blogland.

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