When you grow a vegetable garden one of the vegetables you can end up with a lot of and easily is our friend the zucchini. While it tasted delicious in many recipes, theres only so much fresh zucchini one can find appealing. So last summer I picked up a copy of Better Homes & Gardens Canning Edition Magazine. They had a whole section of zucchini recipes. We tried a few…but this one we fell in love with. It has all the wonderful sweet crunchiness of pickle relish but with a twist. And this way you can save your extra cukes for pickles. Joey and I like this best on burgers, chicken and hot dogs, and I’ve even added it to potato, tuna or chicken salad…but the possibilities are endless. And it is easily doubled or tripled. (That way you don’t have to leave your extra zucchini on your neighbors doorstep and run away)
Here’s the recipe.
5 cups finely chopped zucchini
1 1/2 cups finely chopped onions (3 medium)
1/4 cup finely chopped green sweet peppers (1 medium)
1/4 cups finely chopped red sweet peppers (1 medium)
(We used our food processor to chop all of the ingredients quickly.)
1/4 cup pickling salt
Cold water
1 3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups white vinegar
1/4 cup water
1 t. celery seeds
1 t. ground tumeric (optional)
1/2 t. mustard seeds
1 or 2 drops green food coloring (optional – I omitted)
In a large non-reactive bowl combine zucchini, onions, and sweet peppers. Sprinkle with salt, toss gently to coat. Add enough cold water to cover vegetables. Cover and allow to stand at room temperature for 3 hours. Transfer vegetables mixture to a large colander set in sink. Rinse with cold water; drain. In a 8 quart stainless steel, enamel or nonstick heavy pot combine sugar vinegar, the 1/4 cup water, celery seeds, turmeric, and mustard seeds. Bring to boiling, stirring until sugar dissolves, reduce heat. Simmer uncovered for 3 minutes. Add drained vegetables mixture and if desired green food coloring. Return to boiling, reduce heat. Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes stirring occasionally. Ladle hot relish into hot, sterilized half-pint jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Wipe jar rims, adjust lids. Process in boiling water bath canner for 10 minutes (starting with the canner water returns to a full rolling boil) Remove jars from canner. Makes 5 half pints.
