I have a friend, Meseidy, who runs the lovely blog The Noshery. She’s a talented chef, an inspiring decorator, a great conversationalist—and she even taught me how to fold a fitted sheet properly. Before her lesson, I never managed it; now I can fold like a pro.
Beyond her skills at home and hospitality, Meseidy is an exceptional cook. I’ve had the pleasure of enjoying many of her dishes, including almond crisps with boozy cherries and vanilla ice cream that I can’t stop thinking about. But today I’m sharing another of her brilliant creations: her Refrigerator Pickled Salad.
This pickled salad is essentially a bread-and-butter style pickle in salad form. Think thinly sliced cucumbers, colorful bell peppers, red onion, and garlic all soaking in a sweet-and-sour brine made from cider vinegar, sugar, water and salt, with a touch of mustard seeds and a little heat if you like crushed red pepper. The result is bright, tangy, and addictive.
I made a small change the first time—accidentally doubling the recipe but not the ice—and loved the bolder flavor so much that I repeated it intentionally. The vegetables steep in the chilled brine for three days in the refrigerator, and after that brief wait the flavors sing. We enjoyed the pickled salad on carnitas tacos, with grilled sausages, over cottage cheese, rolled with cream cheese in a tortilla, and simply as a snack straight from the jar.
They disappear fast—our family emptied a gallon jar in less than a week. The texture is wonderful: thin, crisp vegetable strips with the classic sweet-and-sour profile of bread-and-butter pickles plus a pleasant mustard-seed note. If you want more, you can reuse the flavorful brine for a second batch—just pour the leftover brine over freshly sliced vegetables, toss to coat the mustard seeds, transfer to clean jars, and refrigerate for another three days before eating.
Refrigerator Pickled Salad (Bread and Butter Style)
Rebecca Lindamood
Ingredients
- 2 seedless English cucumbers
- 1 large red onion
- 2 pounds baby multi-colour sweet bell peppers (or the equivalent poundage of red, yellow and orange peppers)
- 8 large (or 10 medium) cloves garlic
- 3 cups cider vinegar
- 1 1/3 cups sugar (raw or granulated)
- 2 tablespoons salt
- 2 cups water
- 1 cup ice cubes
- 1/3 cup whole yellow mustard seeds (about 2 ounces by weight)
Instructions
- Combine the cider vinegar, sugar, salt and water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring until the sugar and salt dissolve. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool while you prepare the vegetables.
- Cut each English cucumber into three pieces, cut those pieces in half lengthwise, then thinly slice. Place the cucumber slices in a large mixing bowl.
- Trim the blossom and stem ends off the red onion, peel, halve and slice each half paper-thin. Add the onion to the cucumbers.
- Remove stems and seeds from the bell peppers, slice them thinly lengthwise, and add to the bowl.
- Peel and thinly slice the garlic. Add the garlic and the mustard seeds to the mixing bowl and toss to distribute evenly. Pack the mixture into a glass gallon jar or into 3–4 clean quart jars.
- Add the ice cubes to the partially cooled brine and stir until the ice melts. Pour the brine over the vegetables in the jar(s), seal tightly, and refrigerate for at least 3 days before eating. Stored in the refrigerator, the pickled salad will keep for at least a month.
Notes
Nutritional information is an estimate and should be calculated using the specific ingredients you use.