I love pickles. I’m not much of a sweets person (aside from good chocolate), sour and salty and spicy are my thing. I’ve been enjoying store-bought pickles, and will continue to do so. But, there are only a couple types I’m really fond of. Zesty pickles with garlic, peppercorn, and some hot peppers added are my absolute favorite, followed by kosher dills. I usually add garlic, peppercorn, and hot pepper to a new jar of dills, and let them sit for a week to absorb the new flavors.

But, cucumbers are healthy and inexpensive, so I thought, given how many pickles I eat, I should try whipping up my own, then I’ll always have some on hand. My only caveat, I didn’t want to do the work to preserve/can them. Didn’t want to have to sterilize jars and go through that much work, after all, I’d likely consume the pickles quickly.

After searching around a bit, I found a couple refrigerator pickle recipies that sounded like they’d be worth a try. The first one was so tasty, I decided to kick it up a lot, and made some atomic pickles, which are similar to the first batch, but with a lot more spice. I’ll also give portions for the more tame batch.

Ingredients:

• 1 cucumber – If unwaxed, peeling the cucumber is optional
• 1/2 cup white wine or apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup water (if needed)
• 1 Tbsp salt

Regular pickles:

• 1 Tbsp hot pepper flakes
• 2 cloves of garlic, chopped finely
• 1 Tbsp whole peppercorn

Atomic pickles:

• 3 Tbsp hot pepper flakes
• 1 Tbsp cayanne pepper
• 2 tsp szechuan chili powder (optional
• 2 Tbsp whole peppercorn
• 6 cloves of garlic, chopped finely

Directions:

• Cut cucumber into 1/8’s (slice in half, then in quarters, then split each quarter)
• Now cut the whole batch in half, so all the slices are around 4″ long
• Put cucumbers in a resealable bag, add dry spices, toss until coated
• Either leave coated cucumbers in the bag, or transfer to a canning or reused pickle jar
• Add vinegar of your choice to the jar
• If the pickles aren’t totally covered, add water to fill
• Seal container, and put in the fridge. If you left them in the plastic bag, turn a couple times a day, if in a jar, doesn’t hurt to turn it over to keep spices distributed
• Leave in the fridge for 24-48 hours
• Enjoy! Pickles should last about a week, although I tend to eat them as soon as they’re pickly enough.