Crispy Quick Pickled Radishes

I planted a few different varieties of radishes this year and I’ve decided the Easter Egg radish is my favorite.  Easter Egg radishes are not actually a specific variety of radish but a mix of different varieties with different skin colors.  They develop into these beautiful hues from purple to white and look like little hidden jewels in the garden.

Radishes develop so quickly they’re the perfect veggie to grow to introduce little ones to gardening.  I’m sort of an impatient gardener and the early rewards from something growing in my garden gets me really excited.  Some varieties are ready — from seed to harvest — in 21 days!  How’s that for almost instant gratification?  And while radishes are often relegated to a salad garnish, this year I decided I wanted to do something special with them so I decided to try pickling them.  They’re mild and crisp and I thought they would work great in a brine.

The mandolin slicer is indispensable in my kitchen.  It makes quick work out of cucumbers, carrots, radishes — just about anything that you need sliced up quickly and precisely.  As many jars of sliced pickles I have canned over the years, I can’t believe I cut my thumb like I did.  It was a rookie mistake and you don’t realize how much you use your thumb until you can’t use it for awhile.

But, I always try to find the positive in situations like this:

• My mandolin is sharp.

• The cut was so fast and clean that I didn’t bleed all over the lovely radishes.

• I got out of a speeding ticket heading to the drugstore to get bandages.  Thank you Mr. Officer for not fainting at the sight of my blood as I showed you my thumb to prove I had a valid excuse to be in a hurry.

I was going to call these “ER-adish Pickles” but since I didn’t actually go to the ER, I thought it would be disingenuous.  “Drugstore Pickles” just didn’t have quite the same ring to it.

These Crispy Quick Pickled Radishes are best if you let them chill out in the fridge for a few days but if you’re like me, that’s not going to happen.  This recipe is so easy that you don’t even have to boil the brining mixture.  You can just add all the ingredients to a jar and wait.

…and wait.

…and wait…

Or, you can heat up the brining ingredients, pour over the thinly sliced radishes, and in no time you’ll be hiding them in the fridge so nobody else discovers them!

Besides vinegar and water, here’s all you need to make my Crispy Quick Pickled Radishes:

Crispy Quick Pickled Radishes

 

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Prep time

5 minutes

Cook time

5 minutes

Total time

10 minutes

 

Crispy Quick Pickled Radishes are so easy that you don’t even have to boil the brining mixture — just add ingredients to a jar, shake, and refrigerate!

Author: Brett@MisterMartha.com

Serves: 12

Ingredients

• 12 radishes, thinly sliced
• 1 shallot, thinly sliced
• 1 garlic clove, thinly sliced
• 1¼ cup white vinegar
• ¾ cup water
• 1 tablespoon pickling spices
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes

Instructions

1. Pack the radishes, shallot, and garlic in a pint-sized glass jar with a lid.
2. Bring the vinegar, water, pickling spices, sugar, salt, and red pepper flakes to a boil in a small saucepan. Pour the brining liquid over the radishes, cover, and allow to cool to room temperature before refrigerating.

Notes

Alternately, place all ingredients in a jar with a lid, shake, and place in refrigerator for at least 48 hours. Heating the brining solution speeds up the process but either method works great.

For the pickling spice mixture, I used a premixed variety I had on hand but you can experiment with mustard seeds, coriander seeds, fennel seeds, whole cloves, allspice berries, dill seeds, celery seeds, crushed cinnamon sticks, peppercorns, crushed bay leaves, etc., to create your own signature blend!

Recipe yields a little extra brining solution.

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