It's Time To Start Pickling Your Apples For A Tangy Salad Topper

There are plenty of crunchy, savory, and sweet salad toppings lining grocery store shelves to give your leafy greens some added texture. These range from beloved croutons to sunflower seeds to bacon bits to caramelized nuts. But if you are looking for something new and tasty that still packs that crispy bite and is good for you, you should consider pickled apples.

Apples are not a new salad addition, but when you pickle them in a briny solution, they not only retain their texture and sweetness, they take on tangy and tart notes that will be a game changer for your Caesar salads, Cobb salads, or even your creamy, quick and easy chicken salad. Pickling is a great way to preserve these fall favorite fruits, but it also offers a nice bite that works exceptionally well with rich, fatty foods. Pair pickled apples with the cream-based dressings you might drizzle over your salads, or with velvety, dairy-rich cheeses.

What you will love about this addition is you don't really need to plan ahead — pickling your apples can take as little as 10 minutes. The brine that your slices of apples will bathe in is a simple solution that calls for vinegar, seasoning and spices, and a little maple syrup. You can use honey in lieu of syrup if you prefer; however, the critical key is to start with apples that are clean, fresh, firm, and free of any bruising.

And speaking of the brine, you should experiment with different vinegars until you find one that suits your taste. A champagne wine vinegar is going to impart a mellow, less biting taste to your apples. The same goes for rice vinegar. An apple cider vinegar, on the other hand, will add its fruity and mild tang to your apples when you use it for a quick pickle. The only vinegar you want to stay clear of for pickling apples is distilled white vinegar. It can add a harsh taste to your apples. You can use balsamic vinegar; however, you will want to use it with white vinegar, as it might not be acidic enough to pickle your apples on its own.

When it comes to what type of apple you use, if you are new to pickling, you want to use a semi-sweet variety of this fruit. A Pink Lady apple is perfect to start with, but you can use a Braeburn, Honeycrisp, or Envy apple if you like. Once you get the hang of it, you can branch out and experiment with tart apples like those of the green variety. Whatever you choose to use, you are going to need to slice them. You may want to use a mandolin to accomplish this task. This will give you a thin, consistent slice.

The spices you choose can also play with the taste of your apples. If you want a spicy note to your pickled apples, add some red pepper flakes or black peppercorns to your brine. Cardamom, allspice, and cinnamon sticks will add a warm sweetness to your end product. When selecting spices for pickling, it is important to think about the salad you are adding the apples to.

If you plan to add them to your Waldorf chicken salad to impart a tart vibe, keep it simple and toss in just a little star anise to your pickling solution. Or, use a sweet pickling brine enhanced with brown sugar, cloves, and cinnamon. Add a few of these pickled apples to your strawberry and spinach salad with chicken to cut through the rich Gorgonzola cheese.