The juice is the dressing

Simple pickles and how to use them

Last weekend I took the boys to visit their grandma. As we were sorting out the lunch spread, my mum handed me a jar from the fridge and said - polish this off for me.

It was the last of a simple vegetable pickle - mostly pickle juice at this stage. And I thought - what a salad dressing this would make!

So we talked about how the little pickle can be done, and how I could use some spare veggies in my pantry - carrots and white radish. The carrots came from Paddy’s Market, Sydney; the white radish from Throg: the farm from beyond, Wootton.

Ingredients

• 2 cups shredded carrots and white radish
• 2 cm cub ginger, sliced
• 1 clove garlic, sliced
• 6 or 8 pepper corns
• .5 teaspoon cummin seeds
• .75 cup vinegar (e.g. combo white and cider)
• .25 cup water
• 1 tablespoon caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt

Method

Combine vinegar, water, sugar and salt, and bring to boil Add the remaining ingredients Bring back to boil and continue until the carrots are softened, but still slightly crunchy Transfer to a sterilised jar with enough juice to cover Refrigerate straight away
Yields: about a jam jar’s worth: approx 360gm

And putting to use…

The boys were back with their mum, so I rebranded the cooked lamb chops into cubes - to make them sort of like little meaty croutons, frying in butter, quickly just to get that crunch. A simple baby spinach leaf and tomato salad, with crispy lamb and pickles. Thank you and goodnight!