Easy Pickled Carrots

I absolutely love to have a jar of pickles on hand for salads, toppings for meat, or just snacking.  We pickle a number of things here at the farm: beets, okra, green beans, radishes, onions and carrots.  You can add any number of spices to the mix below.  I like to add some mustard seed and peppercorns, and sometimes a cayenne pepper or two.  Make these the day before you want to eat them ~ they need a bit of time to soak up all the flavor.  These should keep for up to four weeks in the fridge!

Jenna Muller

One bunch of carrots, peeled
1 1/4 cups water
1 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
2 stems of green garlic, coarsely chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons fennel, dill or anise seeds
1 1/2 tablespoons coarse salt
2 bay leaves

1. Cut the carrots into sticks approximately the size of your fourth finger.  Bring a pot of lightly salted water to a boil.
2. When the water boils, drop the carrots in and simmer for one minute.  Pour into a colander and rinse under cold water.  Drain thoroughly.
3. In the same pot, heat the remaining ingredients, except the garlic.  Once it begins to boil, reduce the heat and simmer for two minutes.
4. Remove from heat and add the carrot sticks and garlic.  Cool to room temperature, then put into jars and chill.  

Recipe from David Lebovitz.