Pickled Cucumbers and Beans with Herbs

I finally found an easy way to use up the cucumbers I have growing in the backyard. The solution was right under my nose this whole time. You'll remember I told you about the amazing book The Herbal Kitchen: Cooking with Fragrance and Flavor that I bought awhile back well the answer to my problem was right there. Jerry Traunfeld has an amazing recipe for quick pickle vegetables. He recommends using cucumbers and a bunch of other vegetables but I really love pickled beans. I don't remember when I first had then or where but trust me, pickled beans are amazing. Another bonus to this recipe is the fact that I now have a use for lemon thyme (which I also have a ton of in the backyard).

Ingredients:
1/2 cup kosher salt
8 cups cool water
2 medium cucumbers (seeded and sliced into 1/2 moons)
1/2 lb green beans (trimmed)
2 cups white wine vinegar
3/4 cup sugar
2 cups water
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
3 bay leaves
a few sprigs of herbs. Mix two. I used a few sprigs each of lemon thyme and sage.

Directions:
dissolve the salt into 8 cups of cool water. Soak the cucumbers and the beans for 4-6 hours at room temperature. Drain the vegetables.

In a pot bring the vinegar, 2 cups water, sugar red pepper flakes, and bay leaves to a boil. Remove from heat and add the herbs. Let mixture cool then pour over the vegetables and refrigerate over night.

As you can see "quick" is a relative term for making this dish. Your active cooking time is not that long but the whole process does take a good amount of time. You definitely need to plan ahead but it is worth the effort.