Back when I was in college, I had the chance to experience some carrots that had been pickled with jalepenos. The professor in the photography department held his office hours on Thursday nights at a local bar/restaurant called "Chico's". They would serve you homemade tortilla chips and salsa and a small bowl of carrots. These carrots have just the right amount of "kick". I pulled a handful of jalepenos out of my garden the other day and decided to give this a try. There are plenty of recipes for mexican pickled carrots on-line so I am not posting a technical recipe -- I just want to give you a general idea...
Use approximately 2 cups of carrots, cut 1/4 inch or less. I also diced up 4 jalepenos, 1/4 of an onion and a few cloves of garlic. In a sauce pan, dissolve 1/4 cup sugar in about a cup and a half of white vinegar. I also added a splash of water (1/2 cup?) because some of the liquid is going to evaporate while heating. After the sugar is dissolved, add the veggies to the pan. No need to boil anything here, just let the veggies heat a bit in the vinegar to get the flavors combined. I left mine on the stove about a half hour on very low heat. Carefully fill a clean jar -- I re-used an old pickle jar. These should be fine in the fridge for about 2 months. There are recipes out there that will give you more exact directions if you would like to can preserve them.
Give these a try -- they are very refreshing and because they aren't really "cooked", the carrots stay slightly crisp. They are delicious and pair nicely with a cold beer on a summer day.
