Squash Pickles!

 I have a neighbor who is always generous with fresh produce, and on a near-weekly basis she brings me overflowing crates of fresh vegetables and fruit. There's only one of me and even as much as I love fresh produce, I have to be creative in finding ways to use or keep it. I peeled and froze the recent gift of 40 pounds of squishy bananas, and I've been enjoying banana bread and smoothies daily. But the 20 pounds of Italian squash? I admit, I was daunted.

I don't dislike squash, but it isn't a favorite. I like it sliced thinly in salad, and I will probably make some zucchini bread. The poultry love it when I dice it and give it to them fresh. But squash doesn't keep long, so I brainstormed. And I'm here to tell you, the absolute best way to use this fresh squash is ... squash pickles!

Unlike most of the women in our rural, ranchy area, I don't can any foods. With my luck, and some severe cases of food poisoning in my past, I'm somewhat untrusting of things that may harbor hidden gremlins that can kill me. But I do love freshly-made refrigerator pickles (and I'm especially fond of pickled red onions, which I learned to make after that wonderful crate of onions arrived). So I experimented. I used the same recipe I use for the pickled onions, and merely substituted thinly-sliced Italian squash. They are irresistible. Try them.

So here you go! 

Squash (or onions, cucumber, carrots, etc.) enough to fill a medium-sized mason jar

1/2 cup red or white wine vinegar. Rice vinegar works well, too.

2 teaspoons white sugar

1/2 teaspoon Himalayan or kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper or 1/2 teaspoon peppercorns

1 couple of shakes of crushed red pepper flakes - if you have a leftover packet from the pizza place, use half

1. Wash (but don't peel) your squash. Summer squash, Italian squash, zucchini - try whatever you've got. Put the prepared squash into a medium mason jar or other glass container.

2. Slice thinly (I used my mandolin slicer). Cut off any blemished or bruised portions. 

3. Dump everything but the brine into a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Stir to ensure sugar and salt are dissolved. Remove from heat.

4. Let brine cool enough that it is safe to pour into your jar. Don't let it get cold. If necessary, warm your jar under hot water first. Don't risk shattering your jar with too-hot liquid!

5. Pour your warm-hot brine over the squash. Let it stand for half an hour or so.

6. Close the jar and refrigerate. If your brine doesn't completely cover the squash, rearrange them as necessary after a few hours so it all gets good coverage. Of course, you can double the brine recipe as well.

These will keep for a couple of weeks in the refrigerator. Don't dig in too soon - they're best after having time to cure. They're good the next day, and even better three days later. Serve chilled. Be creative -  they're perfect just on the plate but also good in salads or on sandwiches. You can even chop them and use them as a hot dog relish. Flavor-wise these are not quite as sweet as sweet pickles, nor as biting as dills, but a pleasant in-between salty-sweet flavor that holds its own.

If I *were* someone who canned, I'd make dozens of jars of these to enjoy year-round. They're just that good.

These are the Mason jars I prefer - the wide-mouth makes everything easy: 

Wide-Mouth Mason Jars (affiliate link) (Please note:  I may be compensated for purchases made through these Amazon links. Also, thank you!)

If you're making some to take to friends, these mason jars are smaller and just so pretty, and they have a flat area for labels. Make sure you write the use-by date on the label. 

Decorative Mason Jars (affiliate link)

Also, if you go through your first batch fast, like I did, you can re-use your brine for the next batch. Reheat it and pour it over another batch of prepared squash.

Enjoy!