In a pickle? or jars of lovely quickles ...

I don't know why, but it wasn't until AFTER my daughter was born that I started really enjoying pickled foods.   With the weekly bounty of vegetables arriving from the CSA each week, plus my fondness for visiting farmers market in high summer, I've had plenty of fresh produce recently ... sometimes a bit too much.   So I started looking into pickling.   But as a full time working mom, spending 8 precious hours with my hot water canner was a no-go.    But then I started coming across the phrase "refrigerator pickle" and "quickle".   

As I read more recipes, many seemed to have a basic theme:  2 cups vinegar, 2 cups water, 1/4 cup kosher or pickling salt, brought to boil and poured over a jar of prepared veggies and spices (peppercorns, whole allspice, garlic cloves, cloves, hot peppers, etc).     We later discovered that any that don't have a distinct garlic bite needed more sugar, so I added a sugar syrup the next day to the beets and the tupperware container full of mixed veggies that didn't fit in the jars.    

Here's my results: 

Beets, with some freeze dried ginger, allspice, cloves, sugar, peppercorns in jar:

Greens beans, carrots with minced freeze dried garlic, peppercorns, allspice, mustard seeds, little sugar, onion:

cucumber slices with significant garlic, peppercorns, mustard seeds:

Weeknight Salmon

Simple weeknight meal - I think this one was under 15 minutes total prep, if you don't count the time the salmon was marinating.

Marinate salmon in an equal mixture of soy sauce and sherry. (Weird, I know, but it works!)

When you get home, start a large skillet on high. When it gets quite hot, turn it down a little and add some oil to the pan. (I used olive oil and sesame oil, but any oil with a high smoke point will be fine.)

Add the salmon, flesh side down, to the sizzling pan. Cook for about three minutes.

Meanwhile, I peeled and sliced a cucumber. I then ... pay close attention here .. opened a bottle of SALAD DRESSING from my fridge. Apply this carefully to a pile of cucumber slices.

Using a very thin spatula, flip the salmon pieces. (the thin spatula means you'll leave less of the tasty fish attached to the pan). Turn down the heat, and pour the marinating juice over the fish. Cook until the fish is as you prefer. I like my salmon medium rare. The southerner likes his a bit more cooked.

Serve with a side of soy sauce, teriyaki or similar topping.