Clever girl that I am, I finally figured out how to access the marinara-style cultured veggie recipe again.
Ahem.
Actually, my cleverness has nothing to do with you now having access to this delicious recipe. My darling husband revealed to me the wonders of viewing a “cached” version of GoHealthGirl’s currently non-functioning blog. Exactly what “cached” means, I don’t know. But it works! So thank you, honey.
Anyway, I have tried three kinds of cultured vegetables so far. I bought kimchi at my local farmers’ market, and that was pretty awesome. At home, I prepared a cabbage-carrot-ginger variety and the following marinara style veggies. All have been delicious, but I think that if you’re new to cultured veggies, the marinara style ones would be a good first choice. The flavors are more familiar to most of us, and the sweetness of the carrots and beets helps to mellow the sourness of the fermentation process.
So, if you’re ready for more vibrant health, go buy yourself a set of quart-sized mason jars, pull out your food processor, and let’s get started. Cultured vegetables will add valuable probiotics and enzymes to your body, which will improve your digestion and absorption, help stamp out Candida, and boost your immune system. In addition, these fermented foods curb cravings for sweets. Do you really need any more incentives to give this superfood a try?
For your first foray into cultured veggies, you should probably plan to spend 2 to 2.5 hours on the project, although the process goes much faster with practice. Also consider doubling or tripling the recipe below. As long as you’re at it, you might as well make a big batch.
[Edit 6/17/08: To see my new tutorial with step-by-step photographs of making a batch of cultured vegetables, go here for Part 1 and here for Part 2.]
Marinara Style Cultured Vegetables
(slightly adapted from GoHealthGirl’s version)
2 pounds organic carrots, scrubbed and trimmed
1 pound organic beets (weighed without the stems and leaves), peeled and trimmed
2 medium onions, peeled
1 head of garlic, all cloves peeled
2 shallots, peeled
1 or 2 handfuls fresh basil, washed and drained
1 large handful fresh oregano, washed and drained
2 teaspoons dried marjoram
several leaves of cabbage, washed
Body Ecology culture starter (optional)
distilled water
3 or 4 mason jars (1 quart each)
food processor
blender
cutting board
good vegetables knives
1 very large stainless steel bowl
1 small bowl and some honey for the culture starter, if using
1 large pot of boiling water, optional (for sterilizing all equipment)
1 apron (trust me on this!)
several clean kitchen towels
Step 1: Gather all equipment and vegetables before starting the process. This will save you a lot of time, as well as red and orange vegetable juice dribbled all over your kitchen floor.
Step 2: If you wish, sterilize your equipment (not the food) by bringing water to a boil in a large pot, then using long tongs to dip each piece into the water. Set aside everything on a clean towel for the water to evaporate. (I’m not sure how necessary this step is. Although the Body Ecology group insists it’s important, people have been culturing vegetables and other foods all over the world for centuries without sterilization. The last time I made cultured veggies, I didn’t observe this practice, and nobody died. Nevertheless, it’s probably a good idea. If you choose to include this step, start heating the water before you begin gathering everything else, because it can take a long time to bring water to a boil.)
Step 3: If you wish, add a packet of the Body Ecology culture starter to tepid water and a little bit of honey in the small bowl, following package directions. Set aside while the bacteria begin to multiply. This step is optional but highly recommended, particularly if this is your first time preparing cultured vegetables.
Step 4: Cut the carrots and beets into large pieces and feed into your food processor with the grater/shredder attachment. Put the shredded veggies in the stainless steel bowl.
Step 5: Switch the food processor attachment to a normal rotating blade and, in batches, finely mince the onions, garlic cloves, shallots, basil, and oregano. Add to the shredded veggies, toss in the dried marjoram, and combine well.
Step 6: Take out a couple of handfuls of the veggie mixture and put it in the blender with some distilled water. Puree the mixture to form a brine. Add the culture starter, if using, to the brine and mix well. Pour into the bowl of vegetables and combine.
Step 7: Tightly pack the vegetables into the mason jars, leaving at least 2 inches of space at the top of the jars. Dip the cabbage leaves into some brine, roll them, and wedge them into the jars to force the shredded veggies below the surface of the brine. Twist the lids onto the jars very tightly.
Step 8: Set the jars in a dark place at room temperature for 7 days, undisturbed. At the end of this time, wipe off the jars (some seepage or foaming may have occurred) and place in the refrigerator. The vegetables are ready for eating at this point, although they will continue to improve over time. They will keep for many, many months.
That’s it! Now all you have to do is eat them every day–hopefully 2 or 3 times a day.
NOTE: If you choose to double, triple, or even quadruple this recipe, you do NOT need to use multiple packets of the Body Ecology culture starter. Just one will suffice.
Now, all that I have to do is visit you more often – hopefully 2 or 3 times a day
Or you could come over so we could make some cultured veggies together. Then you’d have some of your own to eat at home in dreadful Galveston. 🙂
I make sour Kraut in 4 days, by griding up the cabbage fairly fine sprinkle in sea salt and pack it in a quart jar. It’s fast and a great way to always have some on hand.
Yeast overgrowth is not widely recognized by medical doctors as a problem. Especially if don’t have the outward symptoms such as thrush, etc. The fact is yeast overgrowth can cause a whole host of problems. Getting your bacterial flora back in balance can help you overcome digestive, skin, fatigue and problems.
Whether or not to use salt when preparing vegetables for fermentation is certainly an area of debate. For now, anyway, I’m following the advice not to use salt (even sea salt), because it retards the growth of some beneficial kinds of bacteria. See an article about this effect here: http://www.bodyecology.com/06/12/21/using_salt_to_ferment_foods.php
Of course, salting them right before eating is another story. Either way, cultured vegetables are, indeed, great for establishing a healthy balance of gut flora and keeping Candida (yeast) in check.
in step 7 you roll the cabbage leaf and wedge it into the jar. Does the cabbage need to be submerged in liquid or can it sit above, exposed.
Also, I plan on using whey. Am I going to mix the whey with honey or sugar or does it go straight into the brine.
Thank you, I look forward to trying this
First of all, I am so glad that you’re going to try culturing your own vegetables. Congratulations! It’s a big step for most of us, and I think it takes a lot of courage the first time. I know *I* was intimidated! 🙂
To answer your first question, no, the cabbage leaf does not need to be completely submerged in the liquid. Its main job is to wedge the shredded vegetables underwater, so you will find that the rolled leaf needs to be partially submerged. It is perfectly fine, however, if the top is exposed. Just be sure to coat the leaf in brine before you roll it. (Now, if you happen to wedge the roll in the jar firmly enough that it stays under the surface of the brine, that’s not a problem either.) Have you see my cultured vegetable tutorial? If you haven’t already, you may want to view some of the pictures in Part 2. You’ll be able to see that, from the side, the cabbage rolls are partially submerged and that, from the top, they’re exposed. Sometimes a picture really is worth a thousand words!
When using whey, you can add it directly to the brine without honey or sugar. Based on my (admittedly limited) understanding, the honey or sugar is only necessary when using a packaged starter culture because those bacteria have been dehydrated and are dormant. They need a little food to “wake up.” Your whey does not need the extra help, as long as it contains active bacteria (meaning that you have separated it yourself from yogurt, kefir, or homemade cultured buttermilk with live and active cultures and have not heated it up). Its bacteria will get to work on the vegetables right away.
I hope these answers are helpful to you, Rebekah. If need any more details, please don’t hesitate to ask. And thank you for reading my blog!
Thanks for this tutorial. It made making my first batch of cultured vegetables a snap! I’ll be sharing it with others.
Jorja,
You’re welcome! I’m so glad you found it helpful.
Excellent details. I am going to get all the stuff. I will use whey this time; next time I will thy the body ecology culture.
Thanks!
Lee
I misread the directions, and thought that you treat the vegies like you treat pickles. I have packed the vegies (onion, cabbage and carrots) in to a mason jar, and then filled with water and salt. Will it turn out – or do I have to drain the water and follow your recipe?