My friend Lesa likes fermented things…and she likes the process of fermenting things. The health benefits of eating fermented foods and drinking fermented drinks like kombucha are numerous. In particular, eating and drinking fermented foods is excellent for our gut health…and who doesn’t love healthy guts? So when Lesa offered to share her recipes, I gladly accepted and got to work! I should add that she also offered me a taste of her fermented veggies to be sure I liked them before embarking on my own journey of fermenting things. The taste is light and tangy but not too sour…delicious!
So I began gathering what I’d need for the recipe from The Nourished Kitchen via my friend Lesa:
Cultured Veggies for Flu Prevention
Makes 1 gallon
Ingredients
- 1 medium jicama
- 1/2 large head of cabbage
- 2 handfuls fresh spinach
- 1 medium apple
- 1 small onion
- 1 + clove garlic (minced)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons unrefined sea salt
- 1 large orange (zested and juiced)
- 1 package vegetable starter culture (or 1/4 cup fresh whey)
Directions
Shred or chop the first six ingredients, place in a bowl and sprinkle with salt. You can also layer it in the jar instead of mixing. Firmly pack the mixture into 2 half gallon canning jars or vessel, leaving an inch or two for the cabbage to expand when it ferments.
Mix juice and culture. Add orange zest and juice/culture mixture to vegetables (dividing equally between 2 jars) and cover with water, leaving an inch or two at the top. Put lid on jar and let sit on the counter for 6 days. Each day press down vegetable mixture to cover with liquid. After the 6th day, place in the refrigerator.
Notes
Here is how it all came together at The Gyde Zoo:
We are looking forward to having a small bowl of these good-for-out-guts veggies every day!
The Gyde Zoo 
Bill’s son Kirk makes sauerkraut in a similar process. I’ve been meaning to offer you a start of Kefir that I’ve been making for a year or so. The starter seeds with S & H cost about $14, I think, and they are now robust enough to ferment almost a gallon of whole milk in a day. While I’m using a batch I leave the seeds in the big glass jug in the refrigerator with a cup or so of milk to keep them going until I need another batch. Then I fill the jar almost full of whole milk and put it out on the counter until it ferments and before it separates into curds and whey. I received about a tablespoon of dried seeds to begin with. Threw out the first feeding as per instructions and it is really going to town now, Kikka gets half a cup a day and I about a cup. Loaded with probiotics and other things that guts love. I strain out the seeds using a big funnel and a nylon fabric strainer. I don’t flavor it but some do. The flavored kind, store bought, is $2.50 or so a quart. Mu understanding is that the store bought is pasteurized and that kills some of the probiotics. Homemade is supposed to have more of the good stuff.
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What type of seeds do you use for the starter? I would love to give it a try for my smoothies…and I think the hounds may benefit as well 😊
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They are kefir starter seeds. They are almost translucent and roughly 1/4″ in diameter. I’d be delighted to share with you.
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I would love for you to share with me 😁
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Maybe they’re grains. Whatever. They are a milk product that ferments milk into kefir.
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I am LOVING your blog and am considering one for our family as well. It’s fun to read the narrative behind the pictures. I not so sure I want much to do with fermented veggies but the pictures of Reggie and Mr. Gyde are fun 😉
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Thank you friend! I’m loving having a blog!
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