The Suburban Herbivore

Greetings fellow Suburbivores! Jason here, Ryn’s husband and the official Suburban Herbivore taste tester. (What can I say? I’m a lucky man!) It’s summer, which means, among other things, cucumbers. And cucumbers, of course, mean pickles! I thought I would share my recipe for spicy, garlicky, Icebox Pickles. These pickles are super easy to make (I’ve already made three batches since we started getting cukes from our CSA), and will last months as long as they stay refrigerated. For a something milder, you could reduce the amount of garlic and red pepper, but really, why would you want to do that?

Ingredients

2 largish cucumbers, cut into spears

6 cloves of garlic, crushed + 2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 ½ teaspoon salt

1 cup white wine vinegar

1 cup water

2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Place cucumbers and crushed garlic in a bowl or large jar. In a non-aluminum saucepan, combine the minced garlic, salt, vinegar, water, sugar, and red pepper. Bring just to a boil. Remove from heat and pour over the cucumbers. Cool to room temperature. Transfer to smaller jars (or just use the one big one), and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.