14 Mar Red cabbage, beetroot, carrot and garlic sauerkraut

This is such a simple ferment to make. It goes with anything but i like it especially on sourdough toast with hummus, but it can go on a side plate with main meals and savoury snacks and especially topping salads. Fermented foods are known to increase the good bacteria in our gut which enhances our health and our immune system.

1 small red cabbage, a layer of outer leaves removed
2 large carrots, grated and peeled if necessary
3 small raw beetroots, peeled and topped and tailed
4 cloves garlic, peeled and finely sliced
1 and a 1/2 tbsp sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Chop or shred the cabbage either by hand or in a food processor. Place in a large bowl and stir in the grated carrots, beetroot and garlic, then sprinkle on the salt and a few good grinds of black pepper. Mix well and leave in the bowl with a tea towel over the top for about 3 hours giving it the odd stir. 
Then with very clean hands, massage and squeeze the vegetables and you should start to get lots of juice. You can also press with a potato masher at the end to release more juice.  
Wash your flip top jars in the dishwasher and dry well then spoon the vegetables into the jars – I used 2 x 1 litre jars and 1 small one. Its important to have the vegetables submerged with juice otherwise they might get mouldy. I used 3 smaller jars which fitted snuggly into the top of each jar weighing down the veg and allowing the juice to come up over the veg. You can google for other methods.
Leave the jars in a cool place not the fridge for 2 weeks – you should notice small bubbles forming. I like to use mine after 2 weeks then I put the jars in the fridge to stop the fermentation but if you like a stronger taste you can leave up to 6 weeks.

Note: if you are not used to fermented foods take it slowly just a tablespoon a day till you know you can tolerate more, you might be a little gassy at first but this should lessen the more you eat!