Yucatecan Pickled Onions

No cooking, just mix the ingredients together the day before - great with all kinds of Mexican food as a condiment.

Common in Yucatecan kitchens these will keep a good while in the fridge, and are great as a garnish to pep up Mexican food, particularly added to Escabeche, or with a splash of sour cream in a wrap, or on top of beans, or with a salad.

Make them a few hours ahead - preferably the day before, to allow the flavours to infuse into the onions.

Approximately 15 calories for a heaped forkful (around 1 tbsp, drained).

Salted Chillies

This has to be one of the simplest preserves imaginable.
Just two ingredients - salt and chopped up chillies. Mix them together and sprinkle a little more salt on top, that's IT!

They need to sit in a cool place for a couple of weeks, and then they're ready. Just keep them in the fridge once you've opened them and they'll last for months. They're incredibly versatile, and traditional in (Hunanese) Chinese cooking (so there will be some recipes here which call for them). You can use them as a seasoning, to just stir into something when you fancy a kick, or if you're cooking something which calls for fresh red chillies and you haven't got any in, they're a great standby. They're also a traditional condiment for certain oriental dishes. So, what are you waiting for?