Bloody Mary's Friend :: The Pickled Green Bean

I love Bloody Marys. In Portland, a good Bloody Mary comes with loads of homemade tasty garnish. So, when the garden produced an overabundance of green beans this week, I decided to try my hand at pickling them. I found a couple of recipes on the Internet and created my own concoction using herbs from the garden and other spices. They turned out to be pretty delicious so I thought I’d share. The base recipe is here.

Ingredients and Supplies

·         1.5 lbs. of fresh green beans
(The amount of beans may vary depending on the size of your beans.)

·         1 cup of white vinegar

·         1 cup of water

·         1 and 1/3 tablespoons of salt

·         2 tsp of red pepper flakes

·         2 tsp of mustard seed

·         4 bay leaves

·         1 tsp of thyme

·         2 tsp of peppercorns

·         One small sweet pepper or three baby ones (orange, red or yellow)

·         Two large cloves of garlic minced (you can add more if you like)

·         Two pint jars or one quart jar (wide mouth work best)

Start by sterilizing your jar(s). Cut and clean the green beans. I used pint-sized jars and had to cut some of the beans to fit. Cut, clean and slice the pepper (I only used half, but you may want more). Blanch the beans and pepper for 2-3 minutes in boiling water. Quickly strain and cool the beans and peppers by running them under cool water.

Boil the vinegar, salt and water together. Insert all of the other ingredients (bay leaves, mustard seed, pepper flakes, peppercorns, thyme, and garlic) into the jar(s). If you are using two pint jars, split the ingredients equally between the two jars. Insert the beans and peppers vertically in the jars. I bundled the beans and peppers first and then inserted them.

Pour the vinegar, salt and water mixture over the beans and peppers. (You may not need all of the mixture.) Tighten the lid to the jar(s) and wait for them to cool. Then, place the jar(s) in the refrigerator for 2-3 days before eating, giving the beans enough time to pickle. You can taste them after day 1. If the vinegar seems strong, add a little water.

This is the finished product. (The picture is a little blurry due to condensation.) Tangy and crunchy–perfect for a Bloody Mary. Enjoy!

Note: This recipe is for refrigerator pickles. If you plan to can pickled green beans (in a hot bath) you should use a tested canning recipe.