Pickled Jalapeños
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
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