Cultured Vegetables,
A Quick and Easy Fermented Food!

Here is a delicious recipe for raw cultured vegetables that offers another alternative to standard sauerkraut recipes. It blends the green goodness of dark leafy greens and broccoli with the nutrition of seaweed.

Making A Small Jar Of Cultured Veggies!

It is one of my favorites to make lately and I've been adding it as a condiment with my healthy cooking recipes and main meals. It is a bit different than our traditional recipe. We use the flavor of daikon radish to spice things up a bit, in addition to the texture of Savoy cabbage.

The great part about this recipe is that you can use anything you happen to have in your fridge. It is good to have cabbage as one of the ingredients, because that is where you get the good bacteria needed for culturing your veggies. Or, if you don't have cabbage, you can use a culture starter.

You can make these cultured veggies with any hard vegetables and greens that are in season. You can also add wild edible plants, like wild greens to make it even more nutritious. Our favorites for this are miner's lettuce, watercress and nettle leaf. The stinging hairs on fresh nettle leaf will de-activate upon fermentation, so don't worry about getting stung.

This recipe is as fast as you can get out your vegetables and grind them up. Of course, the process of fermentation takes between 3-7 days depending on room temperature, but all you have to do is wait and let it do its thing!

Cultured Vegetables Recipe:

• 1C chopped brocoli
• 2C chopped Savoy cabbage
• 3/4C chopped kale
• 1/4C whole dulse leaves or 2T dulse flakes
• one inch of daikon radish
• 1 cap probiotic powder (optional)
• 1/2t sea salt
• 1t lemon juice
• 1/2C water

1. Chop up everything into smaller pieces.
2. Process cabbage separately in food processor.
3. Place remaining veggies and water in a food processor and chop to desired texture.
4. Mix in salt and lemon.
5. Pack into a quart mason jar, pushing down with the back of your clean hand.
6. Leave 1 inch space at the top.
7. Add a few cabbage leaves to protect from possible contaminants.
8. Place a screened or sprout lid on jar and cover with a cloth.
9. Wait 3-7 days, if temp is hot it will take less time to ferment.

You can also chop some of your veggies by hand, but make sure there is at least 3/4 that are processed fine. This will create a better ferment.

Make sure to try your cultured vegetables when you think they may be ready. If not, you can just repack the jar with fresh cabbage leaves and continue to let it ferment. Sometimes you can tell by the color of the vegetables, they will become a little duller looking. This is a good sign and means your cultured veggies have been "cultured."

You will usually need to scrap off the first layer that may have some mold or look off. Underneath, this layer, however, you will have a yummy fermented food waiting for you.

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Can they go bad?

Yes, if for some reason unfriendly bacteria gets in, it will turn the vegetables a brownish color and they will be slimy, off-putting, and be un-edible to eat. This is rare, but it does happen. Usually this is because of unsanitary conditions or the temperature during the fermentation was too hot. It is best to control the temp to between 65-80 degrees max.

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So, now you have no accuses... eat your raw cultured vegetables because you can make your very own! Enjoy the amazing benefits they provide by adding enzymes, boosting immune system, providing friendly flora and balancing body ecology!

***Also see our fermented food recipes for more info on a great new book for anyone new to the world of fermented and cultured foods.***

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