Fermented foods are fabulous for digestion and also a way to make sure you have something delicious on the shelf! While you can buy bottled beets or salsa, you’re getting a lot of preservatives and chemicals as part of the deal. These recipes are easy, delicious and totally natural.
A little bit of preparation
- Talk to your local health-food or organic store about whey or kefir lactobacilli starters – they’ll be able to help you, and give you some great ideas for other ways you can use it.
- You’ll need sealable Mason jars for your pickles – they have nice wide necks to make filling them easy, and the seal keeps bad bacteria out, which is very important.
This is what you need:
- 6 – 12 raw beets
- ¼ cup lactobacilli starter
- Filtered or spring water
- 1 tablespoon of salt
- 1 cabbage leaf
- Cut the ends off your beets and peel them. Cut them in half, lay them flat-side down and slice as thinly as possible.
- Put the slices into your clean Mason jar – now add the salt and the starter.
- Pour in enough water to cover the beets, but leave a 3cm gap at the top of the jar.
- Roll up your cabbage leaf and put it on top of the beet slices: it’s job is to keep them under the water.
- Put the lid on the Mason jar and leave it at room temperature for at least a week, but remember to “burp” the jar every day: open it until you hear some air escape, then close it again. This is to release pressure.
- You can store the finished beets in the fridge for a few months. And don’t throw the liquid away – you can use what’s left to make the next batch!