Summer Squash Relish

Making squash relish out of your bumper crop zucchini and yellow squash is a great way to preserve your harvest. Squash relish is delicious served along side any southern meal or a top a hot dog or smoked sausage.

Anyone who has a garden and has planted summer squash knows by summer's end that you usually have zucchini and yellow squash coming out of your ears.  Zucchini is one of the most plentiful veggies you can plant in summer garden and at times they seem to grow overnight. 

Pretty soon you start to run out of things to make and find yourself searching for new ways to incorporate all that summer squash. There is always the basic recipes,  zucchini bread, chocolate zucchini bread, brownies or as a side dish, but have you ever tasted Squash Relish?  

The first time I tasted this delicious relish was at my Mother in laws house. I love zucchini and yellow squash so I gave it a try and I have loved it ever since! Even my oldest son likes it and that's hard to believe. This colorful relish compliments any southern meal and is wonderful to have on hand. Making and canning squash relish is also a great way to preserve your harvest. 

The hardest part about this whole recipe is chopping up all the vegetables, especially the onion, but after that it came together quite easily. If you have a food processor, it will go even faster. Canning season is finally coming to an end and I have plenty of canned goods to put up for winter. Save a couple jars for over the holidays because they make wonderful gifts from your kitchen. 

I like to use a combination of bell peppers when I make this relish. My favorite are yellow and red. 

Finely, dice up all the vegetables and place into a bowl with cold water. I did not dice up the onion and peppers until the next morning. Add the canning salt and mix to blend. Cover and place in the refrigerator overnight. 

In the morning, drain and thoroughly rinse vegetables under cold running water and strain in a fine strainer. Set the mixture aside to fully drain.  

In a large stock pot add the sugar, vinegar, water, bay leaf and spices. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer until sugar dissolves. 

Add the squash and veggie mixture into the brine.

Simmer the mixture for 10 minutes.

Remove from heat discard the bay leaf.

Ladle the mixture into hot, sterilized jars. Divide any remaining brine into each of the jars leaving a 1/4 inch head space. Wipe the rims with a clean dish cloth that has been dipped in hot water and make sure any liquid is wiped off the rims of the jars. Add the lids and rings to the jars and finger tip tighten. Don't tighten the jars too much or the lids will buckle when processed. 

Lower the jars into the hot water bath canner and process the jars (10 minutes for pints and 5 minutes for half pints).  Remove jars from hot water bath canner and place on the counter lined with a dish towel to cool. Listen for the jars to ping and test the lids to make sure the jars have sealed. Leave the jars on the counter for 24 hours before removing the rings and wiping down the jars for storage. 

Yield: approx 5 pints

Author: Tina Butler | Mommy's Kitchen

Summer Squash Relish

Making squash relish out of your bumper crop zucchini and yellow squash is a great way to preserve your harvest. Squash relish is delicious served along side any southern meal or a top a hot dog or smoked sausage.

Prep time: 8 HourCook time: 10 MinTotal time: 8 H & 10 M

Ingredients

• 10 - cups zucchini and yellow squash, diced small
• 3 - cups onion, chopped small
• 3 - cups yellow and red bell pepper finely chopped
• 1/4 - cup kosher or canning salt
• 2 - cups white or apple cider vinegar
• 1 - cup water
• 3 - cups sugar
• 1 - large bay leaf
• 2 - teaspoon mustard seed
• 2 - teaspoon celery seed
• sterilized jars, lids and rings
• hot water bath canner

Instructions

1. Wash, rinse and sterilize 8 pint size jars. Add water to a hot water bath canner and bring the canner to a boil.
2. Place the jars into a baking sheet and put them into the oven on the lowest temperature to keep warm until ready to be filled.
3. Cut and chop the zucchini, yellow squash, peppers and onions. Place in a large bowl and sprinkle with 1/4 cup canning salt.
4. Add enough water to cover all the vegetables. Soak for 2 hours or overnight in the refrigerator.
5. Drain and thoroughly rinse vegetables under cold running water in a fine strainer. Set the mixture aside to drain.
6. In a large stock pot add the sugar, vinegar, water, bay leaf and spices. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer until sugar dissolves.
7. Add the squash and veggie mixture and simmer the mixture for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and discard the bay leaf.
8. Ladle the mixture into hot, sterilized jars. Divide any remaining brine into each of the jars leaving a 1/4 inch head space.
9. Wipe the rims with a clean dish cloth that has been dipped in hot water or white vinegar to make sure any liquid is removed from the rims of the jars.
10. Add the lids and rings and tighten to finger tip tight. Don't tighten the jars too much or the lids will buckle when processed.
11. Lower the jars into the hot water bath canner and cover the pot, process jars 10 minutes for pints and 5 minutes for half pint jars. Time starts once the canner comes to a light boil.
12. When the time is up turn off the heat and remove jars from the canner and place on the counter lined with a dish towel to cool.
13. Listen for the jars to ping and test the lids to make sure the jars have sealed. Leave the jars on the counter for 24 hours.
14. Then test again to make sure all the jars have sealed. Remove the rings and wash the jars under warm water and dry with a cloth.
15. Store the jars into a dark, cool pantry for storage. Relish will store up to a year if stored properly. Give the relish about a week or two before opening and serving.

https://www.mommyskitchen.net/2008/11/zucchini-squash-relish-its-good-thing.html

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recipe source: Louise Butler

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