Italian Giardiniera

Giardiniera (jar dih nair ah), which means “gardener” in Italian. Lots of different methods, this is the simplest. This makes a rather large amount of pickled veggies, but they will keep (and actually get better and better) for 1-3 months in the frig. This brine is only mildly sweet. Do feel free to adjust the sugar and salt level to your own preferences. I have seen numerous Giardiniera recipes that specify twice this much sugar.

Brine

3 quarts distilled vinegar

3 cups sugar

1 tablespoon fine sea salt

Veggies

subheading: 4 quarts of some combination of the following (trimmed, and sliced, diced, or chunked into nibble-size pieces as desired):

cauliflower (I used 2 cups trimmed floret’s; 8 ounces)

romanesco

green beans (I used 2 cups trimmed; 4 ounces)

yellow wax beans (I used 2 cups trimmed; 4 ounces)

baby carrots (I used 2 cups trimmed floret’s; 8 ounces)

fennel (I used 1 bulb, sliced; 6 ounces)

baby turnips (I used 1 cup trimmed; 5 ounces)

button mushrooms (I used 2 cups trimmed; 7 ounces)

red bell peppers (I used 1 large, stemmed, ribbed, seeded, and chunked)

yellow bell peppers (I used 1 large, stemmed, ribbed, seeded, and chunked)

orange bell peppers

green bell peppers

Japanese or English cucumbers (I used 2 Japanese cucumbers, sliced; 6 ounces)

pearl onions

celery

subheading: Plus one or more of the following, if desired:

1 cup green olives

1 cup black olives

16 small sprigs fresh dill

8 garlic cloves, optional

2 to 4 small red jalapeno or Serrano chiles, optional

1 tablespoon yellow mustard seeds, optional

1 tablespoon cumin seeds, optional

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes, optional

fresh cracked black pepper, optional

Directions at thelunacafe.com

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