Pickles are some of the most wildly accepted fermented vegetables… if we can manage to make them crunchy and not mushy. Any disappointed pickle-maker will relate to this story: I remember my first batch of pickles that were deliciously crunchy and tasted just like ‘store pickles’- crunchy and pleasingly sour with a little bit of…
Cultured, Fermented, and Pickled Foods
Despite the 'lacto' most of the ferments here are dairy-free. These lacto fermented foods refer to the 'lactobacilli', not lactose. Lactobacilli bacteria give us the probiotics we need for healthy digestion. These microorganisms also preserve our food - allowing tomatoes picked at the peak of ripeness in August to be turned into delicious homemade salsa used all winter!
Sauerkraut: Just Cabbage and Salt (lactofermented recipe)
Sauerkraut is a super healthy inexpensive food. Since it’s cultured, beneficial bacteria are plentiful (like yogurt), it’s dairy free for those sensitive to dairy, and the culturing also makes the cabbage easier to digest and absorb vitamin C from. This kraut is raw, so it contains the live cultures and enzymes that pasteurized kraut…
Easy Cultured Salsa
Cultured Salsa is easy to put together, and can be enjoyed fresh the day you make it. And then cultured salsa can allowed to lacto-ferment for a day or two for the bonus of longer storage and the nutritional benefits of probiotics. Read: Does Lacto-Fermented Food Have to Contain Lactose? Enjoy cultured salsa anywhere you…
Lactofermented Italian Pickled Vegetables (5 minute recipe)
This recipe for Lactofermented Italian pickled vegetables is fast to put together. This recipe gives a nice splash of color, texture, and huge boost of probiotics to your favorite Italian meal. Lactofermented Italian pickled vegetables are a traditional food native to Italy, also known as Giardiniera. Serve these cultured vegetables as a condiment alongside meat,…
How to Prepare Cultured Vegetables
What seems like a risky endeavor, preparing cultured vegetables with just sea salt, has a few things to keep in mind to ensure that you are growing the ‘good’ bacteria and not the bad. Counter top fermentation is so simple that it is often over thought and second guessed. Once you understand the process it…
How to Make 24-Hour Yogurt in the Dehydrator (easy directions for SCD and GAPS)
When I first started making yogurt I used a cooler to keep the yogurt warm enough to incubate. Yogurt is pretty forgiving, but for GAPS and SCD we want to use up all the lactose in the milk so the temperature needs to be kept at an even 100 degrees for a full 24 hours….
How to Quickly Make Lacto Fermented Vegetables
Lacto fermenting vegetables can be done quickly and easily using ingredients you most likely already have at home. See basic recipes for lactofermented foods below. In addition to lacto fermented vegetables, these probiotic-rich condiments are also called cultured vegetables. Cultured vegetables add not only probiotics, but also vitamin-rich vegetables, sour-salty flavor, and intense color to…
Making Kombucha Sweet and Fizzy (like what you get at the store) with the 2nd Ferment
Kombucha from the store is a delicious treat, I was wondering if I could make something *just as good* at home. I can! And the good news is that it is super easy, costs very little per batch, and after you buy (or make) the SCOBY, it’s made with what you most likely have on…
Continuous Kombucha with Honey
Even if you avoid refined sugar, you can make continuous brew kombucha with honey! Continuous brew kombucha is a great way to keep kombucha on hand all the time. In addition, because of the complex fermentation (but it’s easy to do) you get even more strains of microorganisms in your kombucha, making it even more…
I Made a Kombucha Mother (SCOBY) from my Store Kombucha!
I’m a lazy culturer. I killed my last kombucha mother, I neglected it, and it molded in the bottom of a mostly-empty jar of kombucha on my counter (yum). Still, I craved the probiotics and sweet-sour taste of the drink, so occasionally I bought GT’s brand from Safeway. Typically, I don’t advocate buying store kombucha…
Fermented Sweet Tea- Kombucha!
Kombucha- also known as SCOBY, Mother, Baby, Mushroom, Tea Beast- it all is on the weird side of traditional foods, but is interesting nonetheless! I finally made my first kombucha last month. I followed Briana’s directions of making a strong tea, adding sugar (yes, refined sugar is called for in this Nourishing Traditions recipe!), the mushroom,…
Beet Kvass- How to make (With Pictures)
At first I wasn’t sure what I thought of beet kvass, and I origionally bought the beets to do pickled beets. But that required baking them for 3 hours and it’s hot- didn’t want the oven going for 3 hours. Beet kvass, like all the lactofermented veggies I’ve been doing lately, is supposed to be…
