It’s the lemon twist!  Some vegetables such as cucumbers and onions and beets taste absolutely wonderful when they are pickled in lemon juice.

These vegetables should be coming along nicely in your garden and hopefully you’re harvesting a lot of them right now. I love to make refrigerator pickles particularly from these three types of vegetables. They should last for a number of weeks in your refrigerator—but they taste so fresh and crunchy and delicious that most likely they’ll be gone before you know it!

With cucumbers, I prefer to grow types that are specifically for pickling such as Boston Pickling Cucumbers. Once my plants start producing, I like to pick them when they’re fairly small (3-5” long). 

Here’s my favorite recipe for pickling cucumbers:

Refrigerated Dills

Ingredients:

• 3-5 pickling cucumbers, sliced into elongated spears (or enough to fill a pint jar)
• 1-2 sprigs fresh dill (flowering heads) per pint 
• Fresh garlic, onions, tomatoes, jalapeño or other peppers, sliced (optional)
• 2 t. coarse sea salt per pint
• 1/2-2/3 C. lemon or lime juice per pint

Method:

Place cucumber spears in pint jars; add dill, veggies and salt. Add lemon or lime juice (fresh is best!) till jar is 2/3 full, then top with water to 1/8” from jar top. Put lid in place; refrigerate. Ready in 3 days!

I love pickled onions also—and I think pickled red onions are absolutely beautiful.  But Vidalias and Walla Walla sweets taste great too!  If I have any beets available I like to cook several beets until just slightly soft and easy to slice.  Slice thinly and add the beets in with the onions. So delicious! So here’s my recipe:

Pickled Onions with a Twist!

Cut one large onion in half vertically, then slice each half horizontally into 1/4” thick slices. Transfer the onion slices to a pint jar. They should almost fill the jar. 

In a small saucepan, pour 1/2-2/3 C. fresh squeezed lemon juice, 1/2-2/3 C. water, 3 T. unrefined sugar and 1 3/4 t. sea salt.  Bring to a boil and simmer for 30-60 seconds. Remove from heat and pour into jar containing onion slices. Cover jar and refrigerate! Ready in about 15 minutes.