Pickled Watermelon Rinds

A few weeks ago, we went to Bryant Terry's book signing for his latest book, Afro-Vegan at Whole Foods in Oakland. We already had his book he The Inspired Vegan and we bought Dad Vegan Soul Kitchen; so we were collectively eyeing this latest book. Vegan Soul Kitchen inspired Dad to modify our New Year's collard greens and black eyed peas with delicious mustard seed and coconut flavors, and add Spicy Smothered Green Cabbage to our meal. It was fantastic, as were the other recipes we've tried from these books. We weren't sure what to expect from his talk and book signing, but we all left feeling really inspired. He spoke about his experience and food activism, and we related on so many levels. Also, we were able to sample his Tofu Curry with Mustard Greens recipe and it was phenomenal. Visually speaking, the book is stunning, with a clean  layout brightened with color and texture.

It's watermelon season in California so we picked up a beautiful one last week. We remembered that there were a few watermelon recipes in Afro-Vegan, including one for the rinds-Sweet Pickled Watermelon Rinds and Jalepeños. Normally we just toss our rinds in the compost so we were pleasantly surprised to find a use for them. His recipe for Pickled Watermelon Rinds seemed right up our alley.

We still have dozens of jars left from our wedding, even after putting many to use in our kitchen, for storing our legumes, nuts, seeds, spice mixes and salad dressings. Pickling has been on our to do list!

We followed the recipe in the book, except we substituted white vinegar for Apple Cider Vinegar and cane sugar for coconut sugar.

After refrigerating them overnight, the result is delicious! We're going to enjoy some on the chickpea burgers that we'll make tonight.