After a lovely batch of rosey peppermint ice cream I had half of a gargantuan beet lingering in my fridge. It wasn’t enough beet for me to bother with roasting (especially because I had no other roast-worthy veggies on hand), nor was it small enough that I could chop it up and throw it in a salad (my solution for everything near death in the fridge). It was, however, the perfect amount of vegetable for adding color to another dish.
In this case, pickled eggs. Pickling eggs is a charming way to infuse flavor into their otherwise hardboiled bodies. And with the addition of fresh beet, the pickling liquid is ruby incarnate. It infects the flesh of your eggs with such vibrant color you’ll feel no shame in setting out a dish of these, sliced up, for any guests who come looking for a nibble in the afternoon.
A note of caution:
If you share my compulsions about eating publicly in small spaces (say, the subway, for instance), these are not a good lunch-on-the-run option. Hard boiled eggs carry with them their own unique scent, which many may find unappealing. Once soaked in vinegar, onions, and beets, they exude such a powerful aroma that you’ll eat them as quickly as you can out of the little plastic bag you packed that morning, hanging your head, trying not to make eye contact with the two NYU students sitting across from you, obviously giggling and pointing at your noseworthy lunch, until it’s finished and you can zip the bag up and push it deep into your pocket, failing to realize the blush from the eggs has crept all over your cheeks, as sure a sign of your guilt and embarrassment as any.
I love pickled eggs. And I promise I won’t eat them on the subway again.
Ingredients
6 Hardboiled Eggs
1 cup Water
1 cup Apple Cider Vinegar
⅓ cup Sugar (palm sugar adds depth if you’ve got it)
½ Red Onion, sliced thinly
½ Hefty Red Beet, sliced into sticks
Get Busy
Peel the eggs, may the lord be with you on this endeavour. Place the naked eggs in a quart-sized mason jar.
- In a small saucepan, bring the remaining ingredients to a boil. When the sugar has dissolved, and the liquid is appropriately red, pour it over the eggs into the mason jar.
- Let the jar cool on your counter, allowing the liquid to steam and scent your air. When it’s cool, screw the lid on tightly and slide the jar into your fridge. The eggs will be ready the following day, and will continue to absorb color and flavor over the next week.