Mexican Pickled Vegetables Escabeche with Jalapeños and Cauliflower

Step-by-step recipe

1. For those who love them, Mexican-style escabeche vegetables are a real treat. You can pickle almost any seasonal vegetables that keep their shape during cooking and storage. As a rule, peppers of different heat are used: jalapeño, ordinary chili and small sweet peppers. Also onion, carrot and cauliflower, and often young eggplant and zucchini. The marinade uses white wine vinegar, plain or infused with herbs and spices.
   
2. Prepare all the vegetables for cooking. Cut the cauliflower into florets, removing the stem. Cut all the peppers into pieces, seeds and all, preferably on the diagonal. Peel the carrot and slice it into 5-6 mm rounds. Peel the onion and slice it crosswise into rings, ideally so they don't fall apart. Lightly crush the peeled garlic cloves with the flat of a knife. Mix all the vegetables in a bowl.
   
3. For a more intense flavor and aroma, fry the vegetables. Heat olive oil, or any other oil without a strong smell, in a frying pan. Add the mixed vegetables to the hot oil. Fry, stirring, until the vegetables are lightly browned. Don't let them burn or darken too much, especially the cauliflower. This quick fry usually takes 3-5 mins: the vegetables show signs of browning and the green parts of the peppers take on more of an olive shade.
   
4. Get a jar with a lid of a suitable size ready: wash it and sterilize it with boiling water from the kettle. Add a bay leaf, 10-12 black peppercorns and 0.5 tsp of dried oregano to the vegetables, then stir. Transfer all the vegetables to the prepared jar; it's fine to pack them in tightly. If you like, add some herbs to the jar: parsley and cilantro work well, use whole sprigs.
   
5. Next, make the marinade. In this recipe I don't cook the vegetables in vinegar, as is almost always done. Instead, after pouring in the hot marinade, the jar is sealed and kept wrapped in a warm blanket until completely cool. In a saucepan, mix 2-2.5 cups of wine vinegar and 1-1.5 cups of water. Add 1 tbsp of brown sugar and 1-2 tsp of salt. Bring the marinade to a boil so the sugar and salt dissolve. Pour the brine over the vegetables in the jar and seal the lid right away. Wrap the jar well in a warm wool blanket and leave until completely cool.
   
6. Once the jar has cooled to room temperature, or while it's still slightly warm, the escabeche vegetables can be considered ready. But for better flavor, put the jar in the fridge overnight. The vegetables keep in the fridge for quite a long time. How long, I haven't tested: they get eaten within a few days. Most of the time it's an appetizer; I eat them with young cheese and bread. Serve the pickled vegetables with meat as a side.
   
7. For more heat, add hotter peppers like serrano or habanero. If you want the vegetables without heat, use bell peppers or any other sweet kind. While stored, the vegetables in the jar should stay covered with marinade; if the liquid level drops a little, top it up with vinegar, which will preserve them. By the way, this is a very common addition to tacos and all sorts of dishes wrapped in tortillas.