Pickling peppers when they’re ready lets you enjoy the their flavor and nutritional benefits year-round. Tacos and nachos provide an excellent venue to pile them onto your plate.

The Science

Chili peppers can provide a lot of vitamin C and antioxidants if you can take their heat! A PLOS ONE study showed that these nutritional qualities increase for heirloom peppers under organic production, especially when the peppers are allowed to fully ripen on the plant.

The Recipe

Photo Credit: Estonia 1

Equipment

• Sterilized canning jars of your size preference, with rings and fresh seals
• Large pot to shallow boil your jars
• Best if you have a canning kit that includes a funnel and tongs to pull hot jars out of the pot.
• Cookie sheet
• Ladle (very important)

Ingredients

Play around with quantities. Make the amount that feels good for the size of the operation you can handle in your kitchen.

• 5 lbs. jalapeños, washed
• 3 lbs. onions, peeled
• 2 lbs. carrots, peeled
• 2 tablespoons coriander seed
• A handful fresh marjoram or oregano
• A handful fresh bay leaves,
• 1 Tbsp. salt
• Heat-sterilized preserving jars with lids and seals.

Equal parts:

• Distilled white vinegar
• Water (enough to cover cooked vegetables: probably about 12 cups of each)

Cooking Directions

• Slice the jalapeños and carrots into ¼-inch thick discs.
• Cut the onions into quarters and thinly slice.
• Make the pickling solution with equal quantities of distilled vinegar and water. Add the coriander seed, marjoram, bay leaves, and salt. Bring to a boil and simmer for 2 minutes.
• Add the vegetables to the boiling liquid. When it comes back to a boil, scoop the jalapeños and other vegetables out and pack into sterilized jars. Bring the pickling liquid back to a boil, then pour it over the peppers to completely cover them. Place a seal on each jar and lightly screw on a top. The heat from the pickling solution will seal the jars. If some don’t seal, you can keep them in the fridge for several months.
• Once cool, you can tighten the rings on the jars.

Banner Photo Credit: jirkaejc; istockphoto.com