Make Yourself Some Dang Spicy Pickles

What is there to eat? Sometimes, you've got to listen to Napoleon Dynamite's grandma, and make yourself a dang quesadilla. And then say, "Fine!" huffily, just for fun. But there's no need to be huffy. Why should anyone get huffy about melted cheese between two tortillas?

Especially if you jazz it up a little bit. First, I recommend using asadero cheese, which is sometimes called, fittingly enough, queso quesadilla. It's a white cheese, similar to mozzarella, which melts nice and velvety smooth. If you can't find asadero, Monterey Jack is a decent substitute. Just arrange your sliced cheese on top of a flour tortilla, place another tortilla on top, and place the whole thing in a dry skillet on medium heat. Heat both sides until brown spots appear and the cheese is melted. You can add other vegetables to the cheese before you cook. Mushrooms, onions, cilantro, whatever strikes your fancy. But might I suggest pineapple? People add it to pizza, so I figure it's not totally crazy. My husband and I like it a lot.

OK. So you've got your quesadilla. Salsa, sour cream, guacamole, etc. are all good accompaniments. But what I'm really here to sell to you today are carrot-jalapeño pickles. I've found them in countless taquerias, and enjoyed them with many a taco. So when I found myself with a surfeit of jalapeños from my freakishly bountiful plant (still going strong), I decided to give them a go. They were super easy, I used up 13 jalapeños, and they are awesome with quesadillas, especially ones with pineapple in them. The sweetness of the pineapple just works really well as a counterbalance to the spicy acidity of the pickles.

I found these pretty "rainbow carrots" at my market, but regular old orange carrots will work just fine. I do like working with the pretty carrots, though. (Did you know that carrots originated in Afghanistan, and that orange carrots did not exist until the 16th century? Well, now you do.)

Carrot-Jalapeño Pickles
2 cups apple cider vinegar
about 1/2 tablespoon sugar
9 small carrots, peeled and sliced into rounds
13 jalapeño peppers, sliced into rounds
1/2 a medium-sized onion, sliced

Add the vinegar and the sugar to a medium-sized non-reactive saucepan, and heat until the liquid is hot but not boiling. A few tiny bubbles should be starting to form. Remove pan from heat and add the carrots, jalapeños, and onions. Steep for one hour. Add the pickles to clean jars and keep refrigerated. The pickles should last for a few weeks. Feel free to halve the recipe if you don't think you'll be eating that many quesadillas (or tacos, burritos, etc.). We eat a lot of Mexican food around here. Beans and rice, beans and rice, it's nice. But it's also nice to have lots of spicy pickles to make things interesting.

(This post has been entered in this month's Grow Your Own round-up, hosted by MomGateway.)