Super Simple Pickled Carrots - Great Side Dish for BBQ Season!

Here's a quick and easy recipe for a colorful side dish that can be used alongside burgers, chicken or thrown on top of a salad for a tangy flavor.  As a side note, what the heck is wrong with my carrots?? I'm guessing my raised garden boxes are not deep enough, and the carrots can't grow down, so they end up curving (or doing the splits) into the softer soil. My kids and I had a good laugh pulling these 'carrot men' out of our garden.

My husband jokes that I don't have a green-thumb (although I argue this point every summer when it's garden season). I'll admit that I absolutely DON'T have patience...I'm conveniently absent when he's starting all our seedlings in a hundred little containers all over my kitchen, but I'm there singing his praises during harvest time:) 
I love gardening AFTER the little seedlings are happy and growing in our garden, I guess I need that instant feedback that something will actually be accomplished from all the hard work. Nevertheless, these purple carrots were very tasty both raw and in this recipe!

Pickled Carrots:
-3/4 cup vinegar
-1/4 cup water
-1 TBSP brown sugar
-1 tsp sea salt
Optional: pinch of chili flakes - this makes them SPICY yummy:)

Bring the above ingredients to a boil, and pour over a mason jar full of julienned (or grated) carrots. Refrigerate at least one hour before serving, but they get better after a day or two (if they last that long!). When serving, I sprinkled with a few sesame seeds to make them look fancy (and for a bit of calcium and crunch).