Ingredients:
3 calabacita squash*, sliced into 1/4 inch thick rings
1 large jalapenos halves, thinly sliced
1 small onion, thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon celery seed
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
1 1/2 tablespoon yellow mustard seeds
1 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 cup water
2 cups apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup pickling salt or kosher salt or sea salt

Directions:

Whisk together the water, vinegar and salt until the salt is dissolved. (If you simmer the mixture as you whisk, the salt may dissolve more quickly but this isn’t necessary) Allow to cool to room temperature. Evenly divide all of the spices, onion, squash and peppers between 1 pint and 1 quart jars.

Pour in the vinegar mixture. Close the jars. Refrigerate. Allow to sit 1 week before eating. Refrigerate and keep up to 6 weeks.

*can substitute zucchini

My thoughts:

The other day I was picking up my usual groceries and came across a big bin of calabacita, or Mexican squash. They look a lot like zucchini but instead of dark green, it is variegated grey-green and white (it looks a bit darker in the picture than in real life) and a bit stubbier. They taste a lot like zucchini too, except maybe slightly sweeter.

In my excitement, I bought a bunch not thinking I wouldn’t have time to get to it before leaving on my trip. So I decided to turn it into a quick pickle that I could enjoy a bit now and fully when I get back. Like my zucchini pickles and crookneck squash pickles from a while back, this pickle stays very crisp and only gets tastier the longer it stays in the brine. I didn’t both water bath canning mine because I just made a small batch and didn’t have time, but that’s fine, these spicy pickles aren’t going to last long anyway.