It’s summer in Brooklyn and it is HOT! I’m honestly trying to avoid any time spent at my stove but as you could imagine, that is much easier said than done being me. I was going through my fridge yesterday and found some nearly neglected pieces of produce - a bag of okra and a bag of Thai chili peppers. I can absolutely not let food go to waste so I had to do what our ancestors have done for centuries - pickle! This is probably the easiest pickle recipe you’ll come across but it is so versatile and satisfying that I may just start pickling everything in my fridge. I chose Okra and Thai bird chillis as that’s what was about to go bad in my fridge (not bad to the point of molding, but a few days away!), but you can use any veggie you have on hand.

Ingredients:

• Handful of washed chilis of choice, stem or no stem (I went no stem)

• Handful of washed okra, sliced lengthwise

• 2 tbsp salt

• 1 cup distilled white vinegar

• 1 cup water

• 4 whole garlic cloves, peeled and smashed

• Peels from 1 whole lemon

Add vinegar, water, and salt to a 2 quart sauce pot and put on high heat. Grab a whisk and mix in the salt a bit. Bring up to a boil then turn off the heat. As the pickling liquid is coming up to temperature, grab 1 large glass jar or two smaller glass jars and fill evenly with the peppers and okra. Add equal amounts of lemon peel to each. Throw 2 smashed garlic cloves in each. When the pickling liquid is at temperature, remove from the heat and carefully and evenly pour the liquid into both jars (if using two) or just the one. If you have extra, save it in your fridge for a future batch. Use a spoon or something similar to push the veggies down so that there are no hidden air pockets. Add more if need be to fill in any space. Let cool to room temperature and screw on the lids and pop them in the refrigerator. These pickles are meant to be refrigerated. Let them marinate in the fridge for 12-24 hours for best taste. Try to resist!! They should be crunchy and spicy in all the right ways. Perfect for sandwiches, salads, on crackers with some nice Blue Cheese or munching on their own (my preferred method). Ciao!!