Homemade pickles rank right up there with homemade apple pie when it comes to food that makes you homesick. Although pickling is primarily a favorite way to preserve food, you can make pickles and have a delicious, nutritious way to liven up a meal. Served with a main course of meat or fish, or with bread and butter, pickles can add a salty or sour counterpoint to most dishes. As a bonus, when you make pickles you add B vitamins to your diet making them a nutritious supplement.

Pickling is basically preserving food in a salt and water solution, or in vinegar. Some countries make pickles by adding edible oils to the vinegar. Herbs and spices are also sometimes added for taste. The food to be pickled does not need to be completely sterile. How acidic or salty the solution is will dictate the final flavor of the pickle.

You can easily buy ready to eat pickles in a supermarket. However, the experience of making your very own homemade pickles can give them an added zest. Pickles are easy and inexpensive to make. You can pickle cucumbers (which are the most common ones), cauliflowers, onions, gherkins, green beans, jalapeño peppers and many more. Here’s a simple way to make your own homemade pickles.

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