Upping my fermenting food game in 3 easy ways
Enough cannot be said about how gut health impacts wellness, immunity and mood. Ensuring the gut microbiome is healthy and thriving is at the core of a smooth running, well-oiled machine we call: our body.
Most cultures world over have since time-immemorial had some version of a pickled/ fermented food as part of their cuisine. Some, more well-known than others like kimchi and sauerkraut. For a long time, I thought it served its purpose as a condiment meant to merely ready/alert the digestive system for the task of digesting the plate of food that would follow. Till I was snapped to attention at a seminar on gut health and it blew my mind that such a simple preparation was nature’s magic potion to reinforcing health and vitality.
A new me was born. Every time I planned a meal, I asked myself what am I feeding the gut bacteria so it thrives and the mucosal gut lining is lush and carpet-like? Don’t get me wrong, I have been having kefir for the longest time. But in recent times my decision to stay away from dairy led to the secondary pattern of walking past kefir in the grocery lane. Coconut kefir was not how I liked it; the numbers (price!) or the ingredients (additives). I did see some coconut kefir recipes online but wasn’t too thrilled about using probiotics from a capsule.
The gut health MD, Will Bulsiewicz completely won me over with his Instagram post on how simple the science of fermentation was. I knew this was something I could do. So in May of 2020, I bottled my first set of vegetables: cabbage, carrots and radish. The flag for fermentation was high and flying to the health of gut buddies :). It made me smile. I couldn’t stop talking about it. I went to the farmer’s market with a new grocery list for fermenting those lovelies. I soon transitioned from simple choices to making my own mixes and medleys, as I learnt that the more variety in vegetables brings a unique flavour profile and diversity to the probiotics.
Here’s three ways I completely upped my game and went from being a fermentation novice to a fermentation daredevil…if I can say so myself :D
I created a “no-waste kitchen “ for myself: I live in a condo, so composting is not an option for me. I was juicing celery, carrots and beets at the time. I wasn’t particularly happy to throw away the squeezed-out refuse after juicing. I told myself it is fibre. My juicer doesn’t squeeze out the juice till it is bone-dry. This can work with the rest of my veggies in the fermentation jar! For the most part, I am a smoothie-gal. But here I was juicing too and using the refuse to create my probiotics. (loved it!)
Try this: Celery kimchi
No-waste kitchen extended: All my life I have used the head of a cauliflower and tossed the green stems it sits in, into the trash. But now I had morphed into this “Fermentation Fairy” of sorts. :D :D I started saving the stems now, and added them to my next fermentation batch. It was an experiment. But it came out all winners. You can do the same with thick cabbage stems, broccoli or whatever suits you.
Try this: Cruciferous veggie kimchi
Hot sauces and sides: I got some mighty hot habaneros at the farmers market, that I thought would do well on this ride with me. Turns out it was beyond palatable, just too spicy even for me. So I decided to turn that around to make my own hot sauce for taco night, or as a side with baked potato wedges.
Try this: fermented Habanero Hot sauce.
Farmers markets can be such an inspirational playground. One summer day, there were a lot of tomatoes. I knew what I wanted… Wild salsa… what a thrill!
Try this: Herbed Wild salsa
The possibilities with fermented foods can be endless. I am happy to say that we have fermented veggies at every meal we sit down to. I am excited to see where this takes me. Make your own fermented foods if you haven’t already. What are your top ingredients for fermentation?
