You know them when you see them. Seemingly unnaturally pink little strings on food, just looking at you, saying “I’m here, do with me what you will.”

Pickled anything is a good way to add some zip to your food, but pickled onions really seem to be the most versatile and often used. I put them on sandwiches, burgers, tacos, salads; just about anything. And you know what always seems to impress other people? Making pickles at home. And you know what’s really really really fucking easy? That’s right, making some pickles.

– Get 1 cup water and 1 cup white vinegar in a pot, and bring to a boil. Feel free to mess around with other vinegars here too; I like to go half red wine vinegar half distilled white vinegar a lot of the time, and apple cider vinegar is a good choice here too.

– While that’s heating, slice a red onion into strings of your desired thickness.There is no wrong answer here to how thick or how thin.

– Stuff your onion pieces into a mason jar or other container with an airtight lid, along with some salt and pepper (1 T salt and 1 t pepper), and any other seasonings you might want to try out (I like various herbs, and red chili flakes).

– Once your liquid comes to a boil, pour over the onions in your container.

– Seal tightly, let cool to room temperature, and then stick them in the fridge. I usually like to make these at least 3-4 hours in advance, but they’re best if you can let them sit in the fridge overnight.

See how easy that was? And now you can start experimenting with pickling other things. Like some jalapenos and radishes to go on your tacos alongside those onions.

Or some corn.

You can do tomatoes.

A little pickled mirepoix may change your life.

Or you can just pickle everything at the market that looks good.

Because everyone loves a good pickle platter.