Wellness Weekly

By Sandy Considine

Pickles: you either love them or hate them.

Pickles are a crisp, satisfying food to snack on, adorn your charcuterie boards, or top your sandwiches, which have lots of probiotic benefits, depending on how they’re prepared!

You can buy pickles in your local grocery store, but keep in mind that those on the shelf are prepared differently than those in the refrigerator section. The ones on the shelf are pickled with vinegar, giving them a long shelf-life; refrigerated ones are prepared with a salt and water brine and undergo fermentation.

During this fermentation process, which can take 4-10 days, cucumbers will sit in the brine, and the starches and sugars convert into lactic acid by the bacteria lactobacilli, which makes pickles a great probiotic!
Because of this, fermented pickles have numerous health benefits, including the following:

1. Can Help Aid in Weight Maintenance
Because fermented pickles are probiotic, they can help maintain and achieve weight loss. It’s heavily documented that gut health directly affects successful weight loss and maintenance. And probiotics are directly linked to better gut health, which means eating fermented pickles can help with weight loss goals!
2. Can Help Support the Microbiome
Your body has what’s called a microbiome, which is a blend of symbiotic bacteria in the intestines that help keep your digestive system on the right track. Having the right (and enough) probiotics helps keep the microbiome happy, which keeps the central nervous system happy.
3. Can Benefit Healthy Skin
Probiotics are also linked to healthier and brighter skin. They can be an important tool in avoiding and improving skin diseases, decreasing oxidative stress, suppressing inflammatory responses, and keeping immune effects.
Try these recipes to enjoy some fermented pickles and veggies:

Quick & Easy Homemade Refrigerator Pickles
Ingredients
3, 32-ounce glass jars with tight-fitting lids

Brine:
2 cups of apple cider vinegar
3 cups of water
1/2 cup raw honey
2 Tbsp. Sea salt
1 Tbsp whole pink, green, or black peppercorns

Veggies:
Cauliflower
Cucumbers
Carrots
3 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed

Instructions
Using a sharp knife, thinly slice the veggies as shown.
Place each in a separate 32oz jar as shown.
Smash your garlic then add it to each jar.
In a medium saucepan add all the brine ingredients. Bring to a simmer and stir well to combine.
Remove the brine from the heat and pour over the veggies in the jars.
Allow them to cool at room temp, then cover tightly and refrigerate.
Cucumbers are ready to serve in 1-2 days; Cauliflower and carrots are ready in 3-4 days.
Keep refrigerated and consume within 2 weeks.

Homemade Raw Sauerkraut
Ingredients
4 lb. cabbage (about 1 medium head)
3 tbsp coarse crystal sea salt or canning salt
2 tsp fennel or caraway seeds
1 tsp black peppercorns

Extra brine
1.5 tbsp canning salt per 1-QT of water

Instructions
Remove any leathery outer leaves from your cabbage head and discard.
Place the cabbage on a large cutting board.
Using a sharp chef’s knife, carefully cut into quarters, then thinly slice it into 1/8-inch-thick shaved slices.
Transfer your sliced cabbage to an extra-large bowl.
Sprinkle with the sea salt and using your clean hands massage the cabbage until it starts to wilt and release plenty of liquid. This may take about 10 minutes or so.
Stir in fennel seeds and peppercorns.
Use a clean 2-QT canning jar and firmly pack in the cabbage.
Make sure you tightly press it into the jar to have as little air bubbles as possible.
Weigh the cabbage down using a small plate, topped with a weight that fits the mouth of your jar.
The liquid released by the cabbage must now cover it by 1-2 inches.
If it’s not covered, then you’ll need to make some extra brine, and allow it too fully cool.
Here’s how to make the extra brine, if needed: In a saucepan combine 1.5 Tbsp. canning salt per 1-QT of water. Boil over high heat, stirring until your salt is fully dissolved.
Remove from the heat and allow your brine to cool completely before adding it to the jar.
Loosely cover the jar, to allow the gas produced by the fermenting cabbage to escape.
Alternatively, you can cover the opening with a clean, heavy towel.
Leave the cabbage to ferment, undisturbed, between 70°- and 75°-degree room temperature for 3-4 weeks, or until bubbling stops.
Cabbage must be kept submerged below the surface of the fermenting liquid throughout fermentation. Check your crock 2-3 times each week; skim and remove any scum that may form on top of liquid. This is normal, just clean it up.
Once your cabbage is done, transfer to individual glass containers or jars and keep refrigerated for up to 3 months.
Enjoy!

Please feel free to email on what you what to know about for a future article at
sandra.considine@yahoo.com