Microwave Pickles -- The Rind You Already Have

Mid-July and the blog post about cooking as meditation has gone mildly viral — shared by a yoga magazine and a mindfulness website, bringing a wave of new readers who found me through the intersection of cooking and mental health. The blog has five thousand readers now. Five thousand. The number is abstract until I think about it as five thousand kitchens, five thousand tables, five thousand people who sat down and read about chopping vegetables as prayer and recognized themselves. The recognition is the reach. Not the number. The recognition.

I made Japanese-style pickled watermelon rind this week — a zero-waste approach that Fumiko practiced but never wrote a card for, because to Fumiko, using the rind was not a recipe. It was common sense. You ate the watermelon. You pickled the rind with salt, rice vinegar, and a little sugar. You ate the rind the next day with rice. Nothing was wasted. Everything was used. Mottainai — the ethic of wastefulness-as-regret — is not a philosophy in Fumiko's world. It is the air. You do not think about breathing. You do not think about using the rind. You just do it. I wrote about mottainai for the blog and the post brought a flood of comments about food waste, about zero-waste cooking, about the Japanese approach to using everything, and I realized that Fumiko's common sense is America's trend, and the gap between common sense and trend is the gap between two cultures, one ancient and one still learning.

Brian and I had a conversation that was not an argument but was not nothing. He said, "I feel like you are somewhere else." I said, "I am here. I am always here." He said, "Your body is here. Your mind is in the blog, the book, the kitchen, the recipes." He was right. I am everywhere else. I am in the blog. I am in the book outline. I am in Fumiko's kitchen. I am anywhere but in this marriage, because being in this marriage requires showing up to a relationship that does not show up to me, and showing up alone is harder than showing up to a stove. The stove at least gets hot when you turn it on.

I did not say any of this. I said, "I am trying." He said, "Me too." Two people trying. Two people failing. Two people standing in the same kitchen, holding different tools, cooking different meals.

Writing about mottainai for the blog sent me back to the kitchen with new eyes — or maybe Fumiko’s old ones. I didn’t have watermelon rind on hand that day, but I had cucumbers sitting in the crisper and the same restless, present-tense energy that needs something to do with its hands. These microwave pickles aren’t Fumiko’s recipe, but they carry her logic: salt, vinegar, a little patience, nothing wasted. Sometimes the closest thing to common sense is the shortcut that still gets you there.

Microwave Pickles

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 5 minutes | Total Time: 15 minutes + chilling | Servings: 8

Ingredients

• 2 medium cucumbers, thinly sliced
• 1 small onion, thinly sliced
• 3/4 cup white vinegar
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon celery seed
• 1/2 teaspoon mustard seed
• 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric

Instructions

1. Prep the vegetables. Thinly slice the cucumbers and onion and place them together in a large microwave-safe bowl. Toss lightly and set aside.
2. Make the brine. In a microwave-safe measuring cup or bowl, combine the white vinegar, sugar, salt, celery seed, mustard seed, and turmeric. Stir to combine.
3. Heat the brine. Microwave the brine on high for 2—3 minutes, stopping once to stir, until the sugar is fully dissolved and the mixture is steaming hot.
4. Combine. Pour the hot brine over the cucumbers and onions. Stir gently to coat all the slices evenly.
5. Microwave together. Microwave the full bowl on high for 2 minutes, until the cucumbers have just begun to soften but still retain some crispness.
6. Cool and chill. Allow the mixture to cool to room temperature, then transfer to a clean jar or airtight container. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving — overnight is better.
7. Serve. Serve cold alongside rice, grilled meats, or as a bright, tangy condiment. Keeps refrigerated for up to 2 weeks.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 85 | Protein: 0g | Fat: 0g | Carbs: 21g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 295mg