Easy Big Easy Pickle
My friends Kay and Lloyd are in New Orleans this week sashaying their way through the Big Easy in celebration of the New Orleans Jazz Fest.
Always on the lookout for new recipes, I asked if they had encountered any good vegetarian dishes while moving between venues.
Kay, who is not a vegetarian laughed.
"What I like the best so far," she said, "are those crispy green beans in the Bloody Marys."
I did a little research and it seems that a lot of places along that part of the Gulf Coast use pickled green beans, and sometimes picked okra as the swizzle sticks in their Bloody Marys. I figured I could give it a try. Even if I don't use the beans to stir a drink, they might be good as salad crispies, sandwich crunchies or just as a crisp snack right out of the jar.
- I used the quick fridge method for this batch and they were amazingly good after only a couple of days in the brine, but I bet if I had let these babies cure for a couple of weeks they'd be to die for...there's always another batch.
When they get back we'll have to compare the homemade ones to the "real thing".
Big Easy Pickled Green Beans
Put the dill and the pepper flakes at the bottom of the jar. Pack as many green beans as possible into the jar.
Pour the boiling brine into the jar, filling it to within 1/4 inch of the top.
Seal the jar and put it into the refrigerator for a few days before crunching into your treat.
Vegan.