Pickled Cauliflower

“… but Mary Hodges had seen quite a lot of life in thirty years and had no illusions about what most of the human race had to do in order to make it from one week to the next. Besides, the food was good and you go to meet interesting people.”

— Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch
by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

You know those jars of pickled veggies that have carrots, peppers, cauliflower, and sometimes beets? I love those jars but I only eat the cauliflower. That seemed a little wasteful, especially since I usually kept the jar with just the other veggies until someone I knew liked them and had to remember to serve it to them. I decided instead to make my own picked cauliflower.

I started with this basic quick pickling recipe from thekitchn and added things I like. The wonderful thing about pickling is that it allows you to preserve a veggie for longer, still maintains the crunch, and it taste delicious. Also, you can pickle pretty much anything. Pickled radishes are also delicious! Although if you do mix them here, you should know everything will become tinted pink.

I have made this with whatever vinegar I have on hand, rice wine, white vinegar, apple cider. They all work and create a slightly different taste overall at the end.

Recipe for 2 pint jars stuffed with cauliflower.

1. Cut up cauliflower and pack it as tightly as you can into your pint jar. I love using the stalk for this as well and not just the flower parts
2. Add spices, I like to use 1/2 tsp of ground ginger, or 1 tbsp of fresh grated ginger, 1 tp of black peppercorns, and a few slices of garlic.
3. Prepare brine by combining: 1 cup of rice wine vinegar, 1 C water, 1 tbsp salt, 1 tbsp sugar in a small saucepan and bring to a boil.
4. Once boiled, pour brine over your veggies packed in your pint jars.
5. Close jar and let cool to room temperature. (Don’t forget to label with a date!)
6. Store in fridge. Pickles are ready to consume in 24 hours, and can last up to 6 months in the fridge.