zanahorias en escabeche

Or, pickled carrots. Mexican style. We had a ton of carrots in the fridge, plenty of chilies, and the kids love burritos and tacos like you wouldn't believe. Constantly watching them eat a somewhat compromised version of Mexican food makes me want the real little things like this all that much more to go along. So now we'll have spicy pickled carrots in addition to Cholula (muchos gracias padre!) to put on top of our burritos and such. Thinking a real Mexican feast might be coming up (maybe for Benito Juárez's birthday?), I'm craving an excuse to make a huge pot of frijoles refritos!
And the recipe I use for these follows because, well, you need it in your life to be frankly honest!

Gather your ingredients. A bunch of carrots, some chili peppers, vinegar and sugar.

Peel, then slice the carrots into thin coins. Slice the chilies, too.

If you have OCD tendencies like yours truly, pile them together and determine whether or not you like the ratio of carrot to chili. I added one more chili at this point.

Put a pot on the stove. Admire the view. 

Put some white vinegar and sugar in your pot. You want slightly less liquid than you have vegetables. I had about 4.5 cups of carrots, so used approximately 3 cups of vinegar and a half cup of sugar. 

Bring the vinegar and sugar to a gentle simmer, making sure the sugar fully dissolves. Turn off the heat, but leave the pot on the hot burner. Toss in your vegetables and give them a good stir. 

When the mixture is cool, decant into an airtight container. Make sure the vegetables are fully submerged/covered by the brine. This ensures that they remain fresh for a long time. 

Pick up on your cat's subtle hint that he needs some food. Go feed him, you're done anyway! All that's left to do is put your jar of freshly pickled carrots in the fridge and try to wait a decent amount of time before helping yourself to them.

As a side note, I took a trip down dance floor lane while making these, listening to what Allison and I call "prom music". Basically soul and funk classics and 80s guilty pleasures.  Give it a listen!


                                                


Update: Just went to the kitchen to try one (that was the intention at least), and they were good. Really good. Addictive. So, guess I'm just telling you that I fully endorse my own recipe, which should be inherent, but oh well!