Skip the Christmas cookies, eat your fermented foods!
Fermented foods are so healthy! We enclosed a recipe for coconut yogurt in a previous newsletter. But my philosophy is to get as many good bacteria into your body from as many food sources as possible. Here is an easy inexpensive way to make sauerkraut at home.
Sauerkraut has been a food staple in many cultures. We will describe a simple recipe that can be made at home for pennies in mason jars. There is almost always a jar or two of this homemade sauerkraut in my refrigerator.
Before I started making sauerkraut at home, I thought I needed to have an expensive crock to make the recipe. Don’t let that stop you. Get some mason jars, the bigger ones may make things a bit easier. Just make sure whatever you choose has a wide-mouth.
Sauerkraut is made by lacto-fermentation. On the surface of the cabbage (and other fruits and vegetables) are colonies of beneficial bacteria. Lactobacillus is one of these beneficial bacteria and is the same bacterial family found in yogurt. We want to encourage these bacteria to grow. When submerged in a salt solution, the bacteria begin to convert sugars in the cabbage into lactic acid. The lactic acid encourages the growth of good bacteria and inhibits the bad.
Lacto-fermentation has been used for centuries to preserve seasonal vegetables beyond their standard shelf-life. The fermentation process itself is very reliable and safe. Sauerkraut can be kept for a couple of months in the frig.
At the most basic, all you need is cabbage, salt, and some sort of container. Metal reacts with the lactic acid, so use ceramic bowls, glass and wooden spoons.
Ingredients
1 medium head cabbage (about 3 pounds) I also like to add beets to my […]