MIddle western pickled turnips

Have you ever been to a family run Lebanese restaurant and got your falafel sammich and wondered what those purple/pink thingies in there were? They're cooling, crisp, different. What are they? It turns out they are pickled turnips. I found out they love pickled things in middle eastern cuisine. Who knew?

Let's make some. First start buy purchasing some turnips at your local grocer. Have you ever bought turnips? Ever even eaten one? Do you know what they look like? These are all firsts for me. They're not that cheap at $2.5/lb, but were easy to find. Next you need beets. Now these are readily available in canned stewed form. They smell terrible and I also have ever tasted them. Fresh beets were harder to find. I had to buy organic and it was $3.5 for three beets. Anywho, I was able to capitalism them at the local middle class grocer so all is well. Let's pickle.

In addition to the turnips and beats you'll need garlic, bay leaves, salt, vinegar, h2o, and some canning jars.

You need to peel the outer layer off the turnips and beets. My finely honed knives did the trick.

The beet is crazy. It has this beautiful layering. The color is so deep dark blood red. Wow. We probably should be eating these. Slice the beats into discs and the turnips into french-fry like cuts.

Separately boil your mason jars to cleanse them and treat them for the addition of boiling water. I then added the beats at the bottom followed by the addition of the turnips. I pushed as many into there as I could. Bay leaves were added and I pressed a garlic clove as the final addition.

Then I added the pickling solution. 1.5 C water, 0.5 C vinegar, 1/6th C salt. I brought that solution to a boil and added it to the jars.

Can you see the pink from the beets staining the turnips? Just wait a few days and they should be purple/pink goodness.