Name: Sesame-Lemon Pickled Cucumbers
Yield: Makes about 1 quart
Ingredients: 1 lb. kirby, Persian, or English hothouse cucumbers, sliced ½" thick; ½ lemon, thinly sliced into rounds, seeds removed; 1 small green chile (such as serrano), thinly sliced; 1 2" piece ginger, peeled, julienned; 1½ cups unseasoned rice vinegar; ¼ cup sugar; 4 tsp. Diamond Crystal or 2 tsp. Morton kosher salt; 1 Tbsp. sesame seeds; A 1-qt. glass jar with a lid

Photo by Julian Cousins, food styling by Adriana Paschen, prop styling by Elizabeth Jaime

With a simple cold brine of water, vinegar, sugar, and salt, this pickle recipe is open to so many additional layers of flavor. Here, that’s thin slices of fresh lemon, some green chile, and sesame seeds (black or white). The cold brine keeps the cuke slices extra-crunchy. It’s also our go-to method for pickling thinly sliced fennel, cauliflower florets, quartered radishes, or thinly sliced celery.

What you’ll need

Small Saucepan
$160 At Amazon
Cutting Board
$10 At IKEA
8-Inch Chef's Knife
$61 $47 At Amazon

Recipe notes

Sweet and Spicy Zucchini

A punchy vinaigrette of preserved lemon and hot chile animates seared zucchini. A simple solution for summer's most prolific vegetable.

Green Beans With Tahini Sbagliato

An accidental recipe (sbagliatio means mistaken in Italian) yields a delicious herby tahini dressing that is excellent poured over lightly blanched green beans.