Tag Archives: zucchini pickles

New! Summer Squash Relish

IMG_2311We’re excited to now have a recipe for Summer Squash Relish on the National Center website. You may recall our post about Squash Pickles which are a take on a classic dilled pickle product, flavored with dill seed, garlic, and vinegar. In contrast, the Summer Squash Relish produces a more sweet and tangy flavor, highlighted by cider vinegar, sugar, and turmeric (as well as celery and mustard seed).

Once those yellow squash and zucchinis start to come in, they tend to be prolific, so it’s nice to have something to do with them in addition to crudité, stir-fry, and more zucchini bread than even your neighbor’s neighbors know what to do with. This relish goes great on hot dogs and hamburgers, or it may be used to add delicious interest to sautéed greens, potato salad, and other prepared dishes.

This Summer Squash Recipe can be made with yellow squash, zucchini, or a combination of both. We especially liked combining about ¾ yellow squash with ¼ zucchini. It is NOT for use with other types of squash such as winter squashes.

Directions say to shred the squash in a food processor, but this step may be done by hand instead.

Also, we used Vidalia onions in recipe development, but you could use any variety of onion per your own personal preference. Another subtle option that you may choose is to substitute celery salt in place of celery seed if you prefer that taste.

So long Summer Squash…see you this winter!

Squash PicklesSo, if you’ve already grilled squash outside for a cook-out, prepared stir-fry with squash, enjoyed a delicious squash casserole, and even fried squash blossoms, then you might be wondering what else you can do with the summer squash that’s still coming in. Preserve it!

One tasty option is to make Squash Pickles, following these recommendations from USDA/University of Georgia:

Recipe makes about 5 pint jars.

Ingredients:

4 pounds summer squash (or zucchini)

½ cup canning salt

1 quart vinegar (5%)

1 cup water

Dill seed (1 teaspoon per pint)

Garlic (1 clove per pint, if desired)

Procedure:

Wash squash, remove ends and slice into rounds. Pack garlic, dill seed, and squash into jars, leaving ½-inch headspace. Bring vinegar, water, and salt to a boil; simmer for 5 minutes. Fill jars to ½ inch from top of jars with the boiling hot liquid. Remove air bubbles and check that headspace is still ½-inch. Wipe jars rims and apply lids as directed by manufacturer. Process 15 minutes in a boiling water bath (remember to make altitude adjustments as needed). For a crisper product, you may want to add an agent such as crisping products containing calcium chloride.

Generally you CANNOT safely make substitutions in tested recipes, but there are a few noted exceptions.  USDA does support the substitution of summer squash for cucumbers in this recipe for Bread-and-Butter Pickles, which you might like if you prefer a sweeter flavored pickle.  If you are not a fan of pickles, then you may prefer to include summer squash as a substitute for zucchini in the recipe for canning Mixed Vegetables .

Zucchini PicklesCanning summer squash (without pickling) is not recommended, so if you prefer the flavor of plain squash, follow these directions for Freezing Summer Squash.

Recipe from So Easy To Preserve, edited by Elizabeth Andress and Judy Harrison, printed 2011.