fermented vegetables: sauerkraut

to heal from any chronic health condition, we need to cleanse and detoxify the body. chronic sickness and pain of any kind means we are dealing with acidosis and a build up of toxins. to dig deeper into understanding the importance and order of cleansing, check out body ecology with donna gates, "ayurvedic"life spa with john doulliard, and/or spirit of health with vaughn lawerence. after cleansing, to re-establish a healthy inner ecosystem we need probiotics--life-giving, healthy good bacteria--to set up shop all throughout our gut. a few ways to get good probiotics into our body are to eat lots of fresh, raw fruits and vegetables, buy a quality probiotic (which costs about $30 per month), or drink about 2 ounces of fermented coconut kefir or eat 1 heaping tablespoon of fermented vegetables daily. knowing how essential balanced, healthy gut flora is to our health and how cost effective making homemade fermented vegetables are, i have made fermented vegetables a regular part of my healing. i have tried a variety of recipes, but i find this sauerkraut recipe the most simple, pleasant tasting, and family friendly so far. sea salt is not included in this recipe because the absence of it allows the good bacteria to proliferate more abundantly. add a good quality sea salt when serving.

time: about 20 minutes to prepare; 3-7 days to ferment                amount: 1 quart

ingredients:

4 cups shredded cabbage, loosely packed

1 tsp juniper berries

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

1 cup filtered water

instructions:

1. in a bowl, mix thoroughly cabbage with juniper berries, cumin and mustard seeds. take a handful of this mixture and blend it in a blender with the 1 cup of water, then pour this blended mix back into the cabbage and spices and mix everything again thoroughly. 

2. place in a quart-sized wide-mouth mason jar and pack down tightly with a pounder or your fist.

3. add more water if needed to bring liquid to the top of the cabbage. there should be about one inch of space between the top of the cabbage and the top of the jar.

4. cover tightly and keep at room temperature for 3-7 days. then transfer to cold storage. the sauerkraut can be eaten immediately, but it improves with age.

tips: serve a heaping tablespoon topped with sea salt on the side of your meal, eat like salsa with blue corn chips, or mix with quacamole for a tasty, probiotic-rich dip.

this recipe is inspired from nourishing traditions and what i have learned from body ecology with donna gates. here is further encouragement from body ecology on how how easy this healing food is to make.