Recipe ReDux: A Trend in Every Pot

Hi, friends!  Sorry that I have been a bit more MIA.  Although I had a few roadblocks with Windows Live Writer (still isn't working), I wanted to make sure I got this post up for this month's Recipe ReDux-it has been forever since I have posted with those lovely ladies.

This month's challenge is ”a trend in every pot”.  It highlights the upcoming food trends for 2013!  There are so many great food trends this year including veggies take over the plate, kid's menus grow up, and sour gets it's day.  That last trend really stuck out to me.  It focuses on exposing our palates to the tastes of tart, acidic, and bitter.  Since I missed the past ReDux challenge for fermented foods, I thought what better time to try it!

I received this book from a friend forever ago and had yet to make anything from it.  I knew I had seen a recipe for sauerkraut so I jumped at the opportunity to give that at try.

I think the reason I had put off trying fermented foods for so long is the difficulty behind it.  But, it honestly wasn't difficult at all!  And even better… there were only 4, count 'em 4, ingredients.  Carrots, cabbage, salt, and seasoning of choice (I used oregano).

Carrot and Cabbage Sauerkraut (adapted from DIY Delicious)

Ingredients:

• 1 medium head green cabbage, sliced thin or grated
• 2 to 3 carrots, sliced thing or grated
• 1 tablespoon
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  plus 1 teaspoon kosher salt

• 1 tablespoon dried oregano

Directions:

Combine all the vegetables in a large bowl along with salt and oregano.

With clean hands, toss and squeeze the

vegetables until they start to soften and release their liquid- about 5 minutes.  Pack mixture tightly into a glass mason jar and press mixture down firmly with a pounder until juices come to top.  The top of the mixture should be at least 1 inch below the top of the jar.

Cover tightly and keep at room temperature for about 3 days before transferring to cold storage.

**It's important to make sure the vegetables are submerged under the liquid. I ended up adding a bit of filtered water to mine after reading other blogs that said they did the same.

So for now, my jar is just hanging out but I am so excited to see the results!  There are many benefits to fermenting your own foods, especially the benefits of probiotics.    Probiotics are important for maintaining our gut integrity.  We need our guts to be healthy and happy to aid in digestion and to help boost immunity.  Fermented foods are a tasty (and easy) way to incorporate more probiotics in our diets.

Other Swanky Scoop:

I big thank you to Arbonne for letting me sample some of their products.

 Abronne products are made without parabens, artificial colors, and do no animal testing.  I think it's so important since we often look into the safety of what we put in our bodies, not on them.

I especially loved the assortment of face creams I got to sample.  My skin felt so soft and silky after.

Thanks for reading!

Have you tried fermenting? Any tips?