Yay! Another recipe to post!!! I’m still in the first trimester of my first pregnancy, which for me means the slightest smells can bring on waves of nausea. It’s so strange that some of my favorite scents like frying bacon, roasting garlic or aloe lotion are completely reprehensible now! Fortunately, my typical upset stomach cures (ginger ale, saltines and dill pickles) are still palatable and still help. I’m so thankful that I made about 25 jars of various dill pickles (cucumbers, carrots, asparagus, green beans) and dill relish last fall.
I’ve never been a real fan of sweet pickles, I’m a bit of a sour puss I guess! Unfortunately the affordable relishes in the store always seem to be sweet. So last year I went on a quest to create my own dill relish recipe. Once I found the perfect balance of flavors, I began canning it in large jars for home, and small jars that I could take to on the road to various barbecues!
While I can’t stand the smell of pork or beef cooking in the house (I’ve hid in the bedroom crying on multiple occasions to get away from it!), I have no problem eating it if Eric cooks things on the grill outside. So we’re having a variety of barbecued sausages lately; beef, pork and chicken.
My darling husband handles cooking the meat, while I try to find the energy to whip up some side dishes. This dill relish is great on the sausages and the tangy flavor greatly appeals to my delicate tummy.
So I’m going through a jar of pickles and a box of saltines a week. Citrus popsicles are also a great help. Any other suggestions to tame the raging nausea beast of the first trimester?
Cucumber Dill Pickle Relish Recipe
Ingredients
- 5 large cucumbers, finely chopped
- 1/2 a white onion, finely chopped
- 3 TBS kosher salt
- 4 cups apple cider vinegar
- 1 cup water
- 1 tsp dried dill
- 1 tsp dry mustard
- 2 tsp cornstarch
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 2 TBS white sugar or organic sucanat
Instructions
- Place the chopped cucumbers and onion half in a large colander and toss with the kosher salt. Let drain 1-8 hours.
- In a large pot, mix vinegar, water, dill, mustard, cornstarch, ginger, turmeric and sugar. Heat on high, stirring occasionally until it begins to boil.
- Press any remaining liquid from the vegetables and them to the boiling vinegar.
- Once everything comes back to a boil, mix well and pack into hot sterilized jars.
- Seal and process in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes.
Notes
Approximate cost/serving: I already have a collection of canning jars so am not counting canning supplies in the cost. I get the apple cider vinegar by the gallon at Cash and Carry and get spices from the bulk section of various grocery stores. I grew the cucumbers and onion myself but you can buy them pretty cheaply. This ended up costing me around $2 for the whole batch! It made seven 8oz jars (but could make more, I chopped everything very finely). So it was just 29 cents a jar. Pretty cheap right?!
Vegetarian/Gluten Free: Yes to both, and vegan too. But make sure to read the labels, especially for apple cider vinegar. Some vinegars can contain gluten and some dry mustard contains flour to prevent caking. Always read your labels if you have a specialty diet!
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
80Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 7Total Fat: 0gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 239mgCarbohydrates: 1gFiber: 0gSugar: 1gProtein: 0g
Nutrition information is an estimate only.
I used to make my own pickle relish in Japan all the time because it was so much cheaper–and so yummy!
As for pregnancy nausea cures, with both my pregnancies I was in my first trimester in Japan during peach season, and Japanese white peaches are massive, sweet, and juicy. I ate them by the ton. I also drank tons of milk, though we’re not doing dairy anymore. I could’ve probably handled gallons of almond milk if I’d been able to get it in Japan! Hope you feel better soon. And many blessings! So excited for you.
Thanks Abigail! Milk has been surprisingly helpful. I’m guessing it’s the protein? The peaches sound AMAZING!
nausea tip–ginger! You mentioned ginger ale, and there’s also ginger tea, pickled ginger, ginger candies, grated fresh ginger in recipes…that’s what got me through. That and time.
Thanks flyingbird. I’ll start making some ginger tea, that’s a great idea!
Congratulations on your pregnancy. 🙂 I’m 18 weeks pregnant at the moment, but thankfully I haven’t had any morning sickness! Must be horrible for a “foodie” like you to have aversions. :S I had a dicey time when the smell of peeled garlic turned my stomach a little, but I refuse to go off garlic! Haha.
Your little one is going to be very lucky to have a mum who likes to cook such yummy and healthy food. 🙂
I just found out about your website from another blog’s (flux cappacitor)link to your Bay Area Bites interview. I was so moved that I posted it to facebook for my friends to see and am starting to check out your site. This is the first recipe that I clicked on and it sounds wonderful. My only question is how many servings does it make? How many jars to use? Maybe I missed it in the description. Congratulations on your pregnancy and I hope you stay healthy and well throughout. I had all-day sickness with both of mine. (Ages 5 and 2 now) so I hope that it ends for you after first trimester. Be well!
Thanks so much Rachel! Blame it on pregnancy brain or just an excitement to finally get a recipe posted after weeks of being too nauseated, but I forgot I few things. I’ve updated the recipe to include the yield, cost per serving and vegetarian/gluten free info. Just so you know, it made 7 8oz jelly jars of relish for me, but it could make more if you chop everything less finely than I did. Thanks for the warm wishes and I look forward to hearing more from you!
Congratulations on the bambino!
Yeah, ginger works really, really well for nausea, but there are some other tricks that you might be able to use, when you don’t have access to ginger products:
Grapefruit juice is supposed to be very good for pregnant women. I know that Asian women use it a great deal during their pregnancies. It cuts down on nausea, cools you off, and gets you some vitamin C and other nutritious goodies. Even better, it helps reduce water weight gain and swelling. Trust me, you’re going to need something to keep the water weight down, sooner or later.
Another trick for keeping nausea at bay is to hold some cool beverage under your tongue for a few seconds. It will take away most nausea in a snap. For a a little while, anyway. Sometimes, you can do that often enough long enough that you get past that queasy feeling.
Good luck!
Diana, what do you use to finely chop the ingredients. Would a food processor be ok? I don’t want to end up pureeing it!
I thought I was the only one who loathed sweet relish (sweet pickles, too). I love my sour pickles and relish!
HEB in Texas has a store brand dill relish (HEB or Hill Country Fare), so I’ve never had to make my own. I’ll have to try this one, though. I’m too lazy to dig up a jar right now of HEB’s, but something red is in theirs. Pimentos, maybe.
Vlasic also makes dill relish, but I’ve had a really hard time finding it outside of Texas. I did finally find it in San Francisco and Los Angeles when I lived in both. It’s been too long since I’ve lived there, though, to remember which chain. Maybe Safeway. I think that’s the one that’s in both SF & LA.
I am curious by the photos that there’s no real yellow color from the turmeric…. Could it really be?
I am looking for a recipe similar to the Bubbies brand dill relish because I do not want my relish like anything but a dill pickle…