In a Pickle

Last week I made an extremely addictive snack, as unlikely as it sounds:

Pickled Carrots

1-lb. bag faux baby carrots, halved lengthwise (You know that those bags of finger-sized carrots aren't really baby carrots, don't you? They're just big ol' carrots peeled and machine-turned to look like baby carrots. Regardless, for this recipe, just buy the bag and be done with it.)
1¼ cups water
1 cup cider vinegar (You could certainly use plain old distilled white vinegar instead, but cider vinegar is a little milder.)
¼ cup sugar (I will use slightly less next time, since carrots are pretty sweet on their own.)
2 garlic cloves, lightly smashed
1½ Tbsp dill seed (Important: not dill weed.)
1½ Tbsp salt

Dump carrots in a heatproof bowl. Bring remaining ingredients to a boil in a saucepan, then reduce heat and simmer 2 minutes. Pour brine over carrots and cool, uncovered. Cover and refrigerate carrots for at least 1 day to allow flavors to develop. You can keep the carrots (still in their brine) in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 month. But I bet you'll eat them all sooner than that.

I also tried a different brine formula for pickled cukes, but it was way too sweet—I ended up throwing them away. So I will not share that recipe with you until I tweak it a bit. Or I might just try throwing a few cukes in with the carrots next time and see if that works. I'll keep you posted.

Comments

[Elena]

Yeah, I've been kind of turned off to those mini carrots since I found that out! This sounds like a fun idea. I'll try it!

[mommyralf]

This sounds good. I'm philosophically opposed to "baby carrots" because of what you mentioned, but still buy them at times. Times like this!

That reminds me of what Dad used to do: save brines from used up jars of sweet pickles and hot peppers, mix the brines, and throw in raw veggies like carrot slices and cauliflower. After a couple days, he'd have really nice tasting sweet-hot crunchy stuff, fairly mild. I liked that touch of old fashioned frugality.

I'd like to see the "baby carrot" factory and see what they do with the rest of the carrot. Also, are the babies kept in crowded stalls and forced to stand on their tips all day?