Grow your own plants to produce fermented foods at home
By AMY ROGNLIE | Photos licensed from ADOBE STOCK | Yulia Furman and Atlas
From the beginning of time, fermented foods have been included in the diets of most societies, though modern-day researchers are just beginning to uncover all the intricacies of how the billions of bacteria and other organisms in our digestive tract work. If you’ve kept up with health news in the last few years, you know that scientists are understanding more and more how important gut health is to our overall health, even calling the gut our “second brain.”
If you got in that second planting of tomato and pepper plants in September, you may have more veggies than you can eat. Fermenting is a healthful and easy way to preserve your home-grown garden produce, or — let’s be honest — your H-E-B produce, if you are like me and were too busy to think about fall planting. Sigh. But I digress.
Unlike canning, fermenting allows beneficial bacteria to flourish, contributing to your health in many ways. According to research, this time-honored method of preserving food has many health benefits, including making the nutrients in the vegetable more readily available to your body. Fermentation also makes veggies more easily digestible and a good source of both prebiotics and probiotics, which strengthen the microbiota in our gut.
Health benefits aside, fermented foods are just good eats. Somehow, the fermentation process creates new flavors and nuances from your favorite veggies, yielding tangy and delicious reiterations. Fermentation is also easy. It doesn’t require any special equipment and doesn’t have the concerns about botulism that come with traditional canning. Fermenting food is fun and easy, kind of like a grown-up version of a science experiment that you get to eat! What more could you want?
My favorite recipe so far is a fermented salsa. I love the complexity of flavors, especially with a dollop of sour cream. This is adapted from a recipe in Sally Fallon’s book, Nourishing Traditions.
Fermented Salsa
Makes about 1 quart
Ingredients
4 medium tomatoes
2 small onions
¾ cup chopped jalapeño, poblano or other chili pepper
6-8 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped (optional, but adds a lot of flavor)
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
1 teaspoon oregano
Juice of 2 lemons (or 1 lemon and 1-2 limes)
2 tablespoon of kosher or Himalayan salt (not regular iodized table salt)
¼ cup filtered water
Instructions: Peel tomatoes, if desired, by plunging them into boiling water for a minute, then letting them cool. The skin will peel off easily. I usually don’t peel them.
Mix all ingredients and pack into a quart-sized glass jar or divide it up into a couple of smaller jars. Press the veggies down lightly, adding more water if necessary, so that the liquid covers the veggies. The top of the vegetables should be at least one inch below the top of the jar to give the mixture room to expand a bit. Cover tightly and leave on the counter at room temperature for about 2 days, then give it a taste. If you want a stronger flavor, let it set for another day before transferring it to the refrigerator. It will last up to six months if you don’t eat it all first!
If salsa is not your thing, there are many fermented veggie recipes available online for everything from pickles to sauerkraut to kimchi and even lemonade! I recently experimented with a pickle recipe and found that I preferred the flavor after only two days of fermentation rather than the suggested 3-5 days. So have fun, experiment, and find a new favorite, healthy recipe to feed your family — and your second brain.
Fermented Cucumber Dill Pickles
Ingredients
3 tablespoons of kosher, pickling, or sea salt (do not use iodized salt)
1 quart non-chlorinated water
2-4 whole fresh dill flowers or 1 tsp. dill seeds
2-4 whole garlic cloves, peeled
2 bay leaves
1/4 teaspoons of spices to taste: peppercorns, mustard seed, coriander seed, red pepper flakes (or use a pickling spice blend)
1/4 teaspoons of turmeric (optional, but it helps give a “fresh” flavor)
6-12 pickling or seedless cucumbers
Instructions: Make the brine by combining the salt and water in a pitcher or a jar and stir well to dissolve the salt.
Divide the dill flowers, garlic and spices into two 1-quart jars.
Trim the ends of the cucumbers and cut them into spears. Place the cucumbers into the two 1-quart jars with the herbs and spices, filling the jars as full as you can.
Fill the jars with the saltwater brine, making sure to cover the cucumbers, but leaving about 1 inch of headspace.
Screw the lids on the jars and set in a cool place outside of direct sunlight. Check them every few days to see how they are progressing.
The pickles are done when they are paler green in color and a bit softer, but not mushy. This usually takes about 3-6 days.
Taste the pickles a few times to be sure they are to your preference. If not, ferment a bit longer.
Once the pickles are done fermenting, store in the refrigerator where they will last for many months or even up to a year.
Adapted from a recipe found at www.growforagecookferment.com/fermented-cucumber-pickles/
