In a right Pickle

It's summertime. I don't blame you for not realising, noticing, seeing the sun. I haven't in a long time.. This Irish summer is supposed to better than the last 2 years. Heaven help me, and all the Irish, thinking this is better than last year. Wow.

With summer comes the new things. Buds, sprouts, summer veggies and while there is this abundance why not make the most of it and get pickling. In America they call it canning. And while I kind of get this, I do not use cans, I use jars so I'm going to stick with pickling.

Today it was cucumbers. Bright green prickly baby cucumbers. They are crunchy and sweet with a bitter taste on the peel. It's the perfect time while they are at this stage to get them in a jar.

I did three separate jars with three varieties of flavours. A crushed garlic and peppercorns. A chilli flakes and a wild garlic. It's pretty idiot proof. Three sterilised jars. Make sure they are sterilised. Should I say this again? MAKE SURE THEY ARE STERILISED.

Cucumbers are hugely alkaline and rich in minerals that neutralise blood acidosis. This lowly green member of the gourd family is the best natural diuretic known and rather than excreting waste through our skin it allows waste to be excreted through the kidneys. It's also known to contain erepsin, an enzyme which helps to digest proteins meaning that it is a beneficial digestive aid and for those of you with worms, it helps. A lot. If you've got high or low blood pressure you should eat a lot. This summertime veggie is high in potassium. There are a huge number of benefits to eating this crunchy green thing so get to it!

RECIPE:

As many cucumbers as you can squeeze into the jar you have (I used 4)

3tbsp white wine vinegar

½-1 tbsp salt

Add any flavour to taste, I used 4 garlic cloves in the first one, 6 chilli peppers. The second one I used 1 tbsp chilli flakes. The third jar I used a large handful of wild garlic.

Topped up with filtered water.

This recipe hardly seems a recipe. It's easy peasy! Promise. Literally put everything in the jar. Make sure you pack in the cucumbers. Once everything is in the jar, top up with filtered water. Every 12 hours turn the jar upside down. Enjoy after about a week. Enjoy.

Super Snack Time

These little spicy crunch of yumminess are one of the simplest things to make. Granted if you were using fresh pepitas from a pumpkin/squash and had to open the fruit, then get all the seeds out etc it would be more effort, but well worth it! Supplying minerals such as phosphorus, magnesium, iron, zinc (which is great for us girlies) and a great source of Vit A, B1, B2, B3 and protein. Let just say, this is one snack that we shouldn't be without!

I use dried pumpkin seeds here but like I said, fresh ones are just as good and offer a different flavour. You can utterly decide what flavour you like on your pepitas. I chose cinnamon to give me a little bit of the sugary sweetness I'm craving without eating sugar and some cayenne, cos I need a little spice.

At Ballymaloe Cookery School, Darina loved to talk about cinnamon and especially the difference between that and cassia. Cinanamon has a huge amount of beneficial properties, but the one I want to talk about mostly is it's ability to help with regulating insulin and helping with stabilising blood sugar levels. Something else for us girls with PCOS or people with diabetes to think about.

To make:

Pepitas, as many or as little as you want
your spice(s) of choice (in Mexico they use chilli powder and lime juice or zest!)
some unscented, unflavoured oil or spray oil

Drizzle a little bit of oil over, be careful as you don't want to much. Spray oil is best as you hardly ever use too much. Then sprinkle spices over, mix all together till all pepitas are covered in oil and spices then spread out on a baking sheet in the oven on a low temp. I put it to 130C for roughly 15minutes. You want them to be more green than golden as they will turn bitter! So set a timer for 10mins and then check.

Happy snacking!