Follow these tips to make beautiful and full-flavored vegetable pickles.

• Work with firm vegetables. Get the best-looking ones you can find. Success depends on produce that isn’t flawed or flabby.
• Use plain white vinegar for vibrant, brightly colored pickles. You can use white wine vinegar for a slightly more refined taste, but the colors will be dull.
• Pickle with kosher salt. It won’t cloud the liquid the way table salt does, and it will give the pickles a well-rounded saltiness.
• Take the time to layer the vegetables vertically in jars according to shape. You’ll be able to pack more in, and the filled jars will look nicer. (A chopstick can get into corners that your fingers can’t reach.)

Published August 1999