Cultured Veggies - Dill Pickle Slices

You know me and my fermented foods. I love them. Well, I'm growing to love and appreciate them. Food enzymes useful for digesting said food are destroyed when exposed to the heat of cooking. Eating fermented foods with your non-raw meals are a way to naturally supplement enzymes to help digest your food.

You can also take enzyme supplements in the form of fizzy powders and capsules. We currently do a capsule of digestive enzymes with any meal containing meat or grains. I would love to eventually stop taking the pills and to rely solely on fermented foods. Just a 1/4 to a 1/2 cup of fermented veggies (sauerkraut, salsa, pickles...) can help your digestion immensely.

Fair warning: at first, you may experience gas or bloating as your body gets used to having more (enough) digestive enzymes to completely break down the food. Your bathroom habits may change as well (for the better in many cases).

And a final clarification: there is nothing magical about the cabbage in sauerkraut or the peppers in salsa or the cucumbers in pickles. It's the fermentation process (sitting at room temperature for roughly 2 or so days) that creates the lacto-bacteria that help your gut. Going to the store and getting a jar of sauerkraut or salsa or pickles will not afford the same benefits.

INGREDIENTS:

• 8 "baby" or pickling cucumbers
• handful of fresh dill
• 1 Tbsp mustard seeds
• 1 Tbsp sea salt
• juice from one lemon
  
• water
• 1 quart- or 2 pint-sized canning jars with lids
  

DIRECTIONS:

1. Cut cucumbers into 1/4" slices.
2. In a large bowl, mix cucumber slices with dill, salt, mustard seeds & lemon juice.
3. Spoon mixture into jar(s).
4. Cover with water.
5. Smoosh cucumbers down, so there is an inch or two between cucumbers and the top of the jar.
   
6. Let sit at room temperature for roughly two days before storing the fridge.

Yield: 1 quart-sized or 2 pint-sized jars of pickled cucumber slices.

ALTERNATIVES:

• Slice cucumbers length wise into spears.
• Use larger cucumbers cut up in various ways.
  
• Add garlic or onion or hot peppers.
• Experiment with other herbs and spices - parsley, black peppercorns.

Cultured Condiments - Salsa

We like salsa and chips - as a snack, as a side dish, as an entire meal. However, we are currently corn-free (well, the girls and I are), so I've had to find some interesting ways to consume salsa. So far I've eaten salsa: scooped with brown rice crackers; scooped with Better Made Potato chips; wrapped up in Brown rice tortillas; mixed into cooked rice or millet;and over eggs and hashbrowns. All were fantastic, though not quite as satisfying as crunchy, salty, corn-y corn chips. (Sigh.)

As promised, here is my delicious & nutritious homemade, fermented salsa recipe.

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 tomatoes, peeled, cored & seeded
• 1 medium onion
• 1 green pepper, seeded
  
• 1 red pepper, seeded
  
• 1 jalapeno pepper, with varying amounts of seeds (depending on "heat" desired)
• 1 Tbsp sea salt
• juice of two lemons
• fresh cilantro leaves
• approx. 1/4 cup water
• 1 quart-sized or 2 pint-sized canning jars with lids

DIRECTIONS:

1. Dice everything: tomatoes, peppers & onion
2. Mince cilantro leaves
3. In a big bowl, mix chopped veggies with cilantro leaves, salt and lemon juice
4. Let it stand for a few minutes
5. Stir for a few minutes, smooshing veggies into bottom of bowl as you go.
   
6. Pour into canning jar(s).
7. Add enough water so that juices are above veggies in jar - leaving around two inches between salsa & top of jar.
8. Let it ferment at room temperature for roughly two days.
   
9. Transfer to cold storage.
   

Yield: 1 quart-sized or 2 pint-sized jars of salsa.

ALTERNATIVES:

• Try tomatillos instead of (or in addition to) tomatoes
• Try different kinds and combination of peppers
• Try roasting peppers first
• Add black beans
• Add corn
• Add garlic and/or other spices
• Try limes instead of lemons
  

Cultured Condiments - Ketchup

The word "ketchup" comes from the ancient Chinese "ke-tsiap", meaning "pickled fish-brine," which is one of the most widely used condiments in the world. (Per Nourishing Traditions pg 104-5). Perfect for hamburgers and fries in particular, ketchup is also a good base for tomato BBQ sauce or chili. It is also one of my favorite condiments of ever (the other, for you curious few, is mayonnaise).

Since we avoid garlic, we have to avoid any commercially processed food that lists "spices" in its ingredients. Garlic is almost always one. (We also avoid turmeric, which is universally used as well.) Annie's Homegrown Organic Ketchup is safe for us, but uses vinegar in place of the natural fermenting process. When you naturally culture your condiments, they are full of living enzymes (in this case, lactic acid) instead of chemical preservatives.

I'm trying to sneak more cultured foods into our diet - besides the sauerkraut that my family will or won't eat depending on the direction of the wind, apparently. I also naturally culture my salsa, which is delicious. I will post that recipe tomorrow.

Here is our recipe for a naturally fermented ketchup sauce that you can customize with whatever spices you prefer. Adapted from Sally Fallon's Nourishing Traditions.

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 cups organic tomato paste (roughly four 6oz. cans, if not using homemade)
  
• 1 Tbsp sea salt
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1/2 cup fish sauce
• juice of one lemon
  
• 1 Tbsp paprika
  
• 1/2 tsp clove
• 1/2 tsp allspice
  
• chives or green onions, finely sliced
  
• 1 quart-sized (or 2 pint-sized) canning jars with lids
  

DIRECTIONS:

1. Grind salt and chives or green onions into a paste
   
2. Add remaining ingredients and mix well.
   
3. Pour into one quart-sized canning jar (or two pint-sized), leaving at least one inch below top of jar.
   
4. Secure lids.
   
5. Leave at room temperature to ferment for roughly two days.
   
6. Transfer to cold storage (i.e. fridge).
   

Yields: 1 quart-sized or 2 pint-sized jars of ketchup.

ALTERNATIVES:

• Try tomatillos instead of tomatoes for green ketchup
• Try adding pureed roasted red peppers
• Use garlic in addition to or instead of chives & onions
• For curry ketchup, use curry spices (e.g. allspice, garlic, coriander, cardamom, turmeric)
• For Tex-Mex ketchup, use Mexican spices (e.g. clove, garlic, onion, cilantro/coriander, paprika, cayenne pepper, cumin)
• For Italian ketchup, use Italian spices (oregano, basil, rosemary, thyme, garlic, onion)
• Try adding (or using instead of tomatoes) various fruit pastes - cherries, apricots, mangoes, plums, etc.
• Just experiment! Cinnamon ketchup? Why not?