baja carrots

There are a few things I miss about living in Encinitas.  The main things being; my friends, family, the beach, the ocean, Trader Joe's and Juanita's.  Juanita's is my favorite little hole in the wall Mexican food joint on the PCH in Leucadia.  Juanita's tacitos, bean and cheese burritos and carne asada anything are super delicious, but their ginormous jar of spicy pickled carrots and jalapenos...I would have to go get "food" just so I could satisfy my wicked craving for the carrots!

I still miss my friends, family, the beach and the ocean, but T.J.'s will be in Colorado soon and my taco truck on Colfax has phenomenal carne asada, bean and cheese burritos and carrots too!  I came to realize though, that a few carrots a week wasn't working to satiate my cravings, so I said to myself, "Self, why don't you make your own carrots?"

I found a recipe online with good reviews by people who apparently experienced the same wicked cravings that I had when they lived in So Cal, and I gave the recipe a whirl.  The carrots were okay, but the recipe called for too much water, cider vinegar, and oil.  Oil?  Just weird and didn't quite do it for me.  So I then said to myself, "Self, create your own recipe".

Baja Carrots

Carrots, one half pound, sliced ¼ inch thick

2 T white vinegar

1 tsp. Mexican oregano

¼ tsp. salt

Jar of pickled jalapenos

Place carrots in a pot, 2 ½ quart size works great for this amount.  Add the vinegar, enough water to cover the carrots and the oregano.  Bring to a boil, add salt and cook covered at a high simmer for 5-6 minutes.  I'm at a high altitude, so this is perfect for here, but lower altitudes may get by with about 4 minutes.

Remove from heat and add a few or a bunch of pickled jalapenos,depending on how much heat you want, to the pot and let sit till cool.  After the carrots have cooled, place in a container and chill for a couple of hours in the fridge.

Enjoy!