Cultured... Vegetables?

It's true.  Vegetables can achieve a sophisticated level of cultural savvy too; who knew?  And it just so happens they are very good for une bonne digestion, no?  Read on...

As the dog days progress every summer I get pangs of 'Grandma's ranch in Napa Vally nostalgia' and pine for her pantry busting out in home-canned peaches, cherries, home made grape juice and strawberry jam.  I romantically dabble with the idea of canning and freezing like a good little housewife of old.  

And then reality hits.

But pine no more!  I found a quick and dirty substitute - ferment (or culture, or pickle if you prefer the term) your own vegetables.  In keeping with the probiotics rage among us you've probably heard fermented foods like sauerkraut and kim chi are a good way to boost your intake of the cute little cooties that keep your belly happy, happy, happy.

 

Click here for the easy peasy directions you need to ferment away in your own kitchen.

 

I

Mine came out DELICIOUS, albeit a wee bit too salty.  I chose the vegan version without whey, just salt, and here's what I fermented -

2 garlic cloves
20 peppercorns
Chunks of:  Red Peppers, Celery and Carrots
Covered the top with leaves of Purple Cabbage
1 1/2T of sea salt - which I will reduce to 1 T in the future (too salty)

Verdict - the peppers, cabbage and celery were amazing but I found the sweet/salty combo of the carrots off putting.  Next time I will increase the fermentation time to 7 days ( I only did 5 because its very warm in our house - Houston, you know) and still try a few carrots.

Cheers to a happy digestion!

Green Goddess-y Zucchini Hummus

Most novice gardeners make the mistake of planting too much zucchini and are so SICK of zucchini everything by August they never want to plant the stuff again.  Has this ever happened to you?  Guilty!  If you need to use up some zucchini, or even not - here's a fabulous recipe I swiped from the only truly evolved, health-aware grocer here in southern Houston - Erma's - whom placed it out for sampling one day a while back.  Even my 10-yr-old son, whom won't touch hummus with a 10 foot pole, declared it delicious!  Go figure. 

 One note - in my trademark haste I neglected to "drain excess water" and ended up with a "dressing", or cold soup.  I poured some over salad the 2nd time I ate it and decided it's my new staple dressing:-)  Who needs bottled stuff w/ MSG and god-knows what other additives?  The addition of 1/2 an avocado would transform it into a spectacular raw Green Goddess-y concoction, don't you think?  Gonna try it....

Zucchini Hummus

2 chopped zucchinis
1/3 c. tahini
4Tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1 minced clove garlic (I used 2 - yum!)
Handful fresh parsley
1 tsp. sea salt
(optional as mentioned above - 1/2 peeled avocado)

Blend only zucchini in a high speed blender.  For hummus - drain off excess water before adding the remaining ingredients and blending again.  For dressing - omit the draining phase and blend everything at once.

Nutrition Info:  2TBS. = 1 serving
calories - 44.1
fat - 3.8gr
carbs - 1.9g
protein - 1.3g
(recipe courtesy of Carolward99 - a SparkPeople user)

Enjoy in health!