Homemade Sauerkraut
~Sauerkraut: Fermented Cabbage or other Veggies~
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Written by Dr. Andrew Iverson
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Recipe From Nature's Diet Cookbook
This is Nature’s source of beneficial bacteria! You don’t need to buy expensive probiotics at the health food store if you are eating fermented vegetables regularly. I remember growing up on the dairy farm and the smell of the silage pits that we used to store the grass for the cows to feed over winter. Wooo-weeee-peeee-eewww!—yuck, gag, blah!…(get the picture?) I assure you, these fermented veggies taste way better than that stuff smelled--and they are super healthy for you too!
Ingredients:
8 oz white cabbage
(or any other vegetable: purple
cabbage, carrots, beets,
turnips, radishes, daikon, onions,
ginger etc)
¼ tsp sea salt
1 tsp herbs/spices: dill, caraway,
fennel, anise, chili; or pickling
spice mix from 'Grandma's Pickles'
(see recipe, pg. 100, Nature's Diet Cookbook)
The addition of spice or peppers is optional.
Instructions:
Chop the cabbage or other veggie by hand or in a food processor and toss with the salt and optional seasonings. Pack the veggies in a pint sized wide mouth jar and pack and pound down very tightly with a meat hammer or your fingers to release the natural juices. Keep pushing down until the cabbage is completely submerged by its own juices.
Alternatively, you can do it like Grandma and Grandpa used to- in a crock. Place all veggies in a crock or pickle press and apply pressure to release juices. Cover with a plate so the cabbage stays submerged under the juices
Choose to leave at room temperature for 7-10 days being sure that the veggies stay below the fluid line. If they rise up push them back down. This won’t be necessary in a 'kraut crock' because the plate on top will keep it submerged. If a layer of scum forms on top just scrape it off and discard.
After fermenting to your desire, store in the fridge up to 8 weeks and serve cold on top of hamburgers, soups, grains, salads and anywhere else you want a healthy dose of Nature's probiotics!
