Fresh-Pickled Vegetables

I like this refrigerator pickle recipe from Alice Water's Simple Food book because it has so much less salt and sugar than other recipes I've used. And, because they're refrigerator pickles, you don't have to worry about canning them. They're ready in a few minutes and keep for a week. She recommends using veggies like sliced carrots, quartered cauliflower florets, quartered pearl or cipolline onions, halved okra pods, small turnips cut into wedges, whole green beans, small cubes of celery root, etc. I went traditional with sliced cucumbers. You can vary the brine a lot by using different spices or vinegars. I didn't have half the spices she called for, so I basically just used dill and red pepper flakes.

Alls you do is bring the brine to a boil, cook the veggies in the brine in batches (if you're using more than one kind of veggie, cook each kind separately), pull the veggies out when they're cooked but still crisp, and let them cool. When the veggies and the brine are cooled to room temp, combine the veggies, put them in a jar or another covered container, pour the brine over them, and refrigerate.

1 1/2 cup white wine vinegar
1 3/4 cup water
2 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 of a bay leaf
4 thyme sprigs
Half a dried cayenne pepper or a pinch of dried chile flakes
1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds
2 whole cloves
1 garlic clove, peeled and chopped in half
Pinch of salt

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.

Here's a site with a bunch of information about vinegar. Apparently, white wine vinegar is not the same as white vinegar, which I didn't know. I thought one was just a fancier term to allow the manufacturer to charge more for the same stuff.