This article was written by The Zillennial Zine’s summer editorial intern Connor Hanrahan. Find him on Instagram at @hannerhansmh. If you would like to share an article with The Zillennial, send us an email at thezillennialzine@gmail.com.
It’s finally summer and with summer comes new opportunities for cooking hobbies, seasonal recipes and vegetables, and in this case, pickles. I spent the last three days slaving away in the kitchen to try as many fun, yummy pickle recipes as I could and today we will be dissecting my favorites! We will also be answering the most trendy pickle question of the summer: Is pickle pizza good?
I must preface, I am traditionally a dill pickle enthusiast but I have no issue with bread and butter. For a less biased experiment, I extended my sample size from just myself to also include my roommate and girlfriend who love and don’t like pickles, respectively.
Recipe One: Pickled Vegetables
Pickled vegetables have always stood out to me as the pinnacle of pickling. Both my roomie and I have pickled vegetables for many seasons now and we always go through JARS of them within a week of the brining’s completion. I personally prefer pickled shallots, carrots, white onion, banana peppers, and jalapenos, though my roomie loves a good pickled cucumber.
We used to use a different recipe that we found YEARS ago in Food Magazine, but now we use this recipe we found in the December 2022 issue of Bon Appetit because it tastes miles better and hasn’t failed us once.
This recipe can be found here.
These vegetables can be used for anything: cookout foods, cold sandwiches, chilis, hot sandwiches, or really anything you could think of. I particularly love them on a nice barbecue pulled pork or chicken sandwich. My favorite recipes for which are linked here:
I traditionally use a slow cooker recipe for the chicken sandwich, but many Zillennials don’t have one, so I’ve tried, tested, and enthusiastically approved this stovetop alternative!
Recipe Two: Chicken Salad (Sandwiches)
Chicken salad was always a staple in my family household during the summer months. My mom loved to make it and she always packed a chicken salad sandwich in my lunches for school. I’ll never forget this because it made lunchtime my favorite time of the day.
Pickles are a key ingredient. Even though the quantity used might be small, the flavor is integral to the recipe itself. It provides that sweet and salty little bit of crunch that makes the salad such a hit on a warm sunny afternoon!
The recipe we tried was a massive hit! It can be found here.
Again, I definitely grossed up the portions of black pepper and dijon mustard because that little extra bit of savory kick just makes the salad for me!
Recipe Three: Bloody Mary’s
That’s right, we are NOT just going to be talking about foods. Spare pickle brine is the perfect way to spice up everyone’s favorite alcoholic V8. The flavor pairs perfectly with the rest of the ingredients in this savory beverage and most bar backs add it to their Bloody Mary’s anyways.
Once again, my favorite recipe for this cocktail is found on Bon Appetit, though I always add just a touch more crushed black pepper to it than they recommend, but I also love a little extra kick of spice.
This recipe can be found here.
Recipe Four: Spicy Vietnamese Veggies
With the summer sandwich craze naturally comes banh mi, for a nice Asian twist on the lunch food we love so dearly. These veggies even add a fun bit of tang to the pulled meat sandwiches I listed with the “Pickled Veggies” recipe.
The recipe can be found here.
Recipe Five: The Pickle Pizza Finale
So, we tried pickle pizza. And to say the very least, it was interesting.
We used this recipe: https://www.simplyrecipes.com/pickle-pizza-recipe-7497290
I’ll be honest, I hated it. It was dry, salty, and overly pickle-y.
That being said, my roommate loved it and has made one for consecutive nights now. I am not a fan of pickled veggies on my pizza, including but not limited to banana peppers and jalapenos, but my roomie is. It is, and I quote, his “song of the summer”.
Let me know what you guys think of these recipes, and definitely try the pizza and let me know in the comments below because maybe I butchered the recipe… but my roomie certainly doesn’t think so!
Leave a Reply