Fermented Food Recipes Can Be as Easy as Adding Flair to a Favorite Dish
We all have been hearing about the benefits of eating more fermented foods. You want to make good choices for your body when you sit down to enjoy a meal. So how do you get vital fermented foods on your plate? You can purchase some of the delicious sauerkraut or kimchi made by Hosta Hill, and you can also make your own.
But then what? You look for fermented food recipes to get you started. But adding ferments to your diet can be so easy. Take a favorite recipe and bring it to the next level in health and satisfaction by adding ferments to the mix. Read on for some delicious examples!
The research says fermented foods should be in your diet
In the New York Times this spring, writer Anahad O’Connor summarized a recent Stanford study. The research showed that the more fermented foods people ate, the more complex their gut microbiome became. This has big implications for health.
In the study, participants consumed 6 daily servings of fermented foods with live cultures. This might sound like a lot. But maybe you already eat a cup of yogurt for breakfast or enjoy kombucha with lunch. All you’d need to add to your day is sauerkraut or kimchi with dinner. Read on for easy fermented food recipes to get you rolling.
Easy fermented food recipes
If you are new to eating fermented foods, you can start out with baby steps by adding fermented hot sauce or Krautonic as seasoning. These foods are raw and live, and can easily take the place of other foods you already use to kick up the flavor of dishes like eggs or soup.
Ok, hot sauce is no mystery. But what is Krautonic?
Hosta Hill’s Krautonics are the briney liquids leftover from our krauts and kimchis. They are chock-full of goodies like antioxidants, trace minerals, and live cultures. They can be taken by the shot, used to brine your refrigerator pickles, added to soups and salad dressings, and more. So let’s start there:
Kimchi Krautonic Over Instant Noodles
Who isn’t looking for a way to enrich their pantry foods into something more delicious and healthy? Turn ordinary instant noodles into something special:
Start by making your noodles per the instructions
Add a handful of your favorite sauteed mushrooms and cooking greens
Crack a farm-fresh egg into the pan and let it poach
Once your noodles and veggies are cooked, take them off the heat
Pour our Kimchi Krautonic over the noodles
For a bonus, stir in some kimchi from the jar
Why not cook the fermented food into your soup? The cooking process can kill the helpful live cultures, so better add it raw.
Pan-Fried Sausage and Sauerkraut
Chances are, you’ve already enjoyed this German-inspired recipe in some form or another. Just loading your bratwurst with sauteed onions, pepper, seedy german mustard and fresh sauerkraut is a festival favorite. But you can also cook it together for a dish you need a fork to enjoy!
Slice fully cooked, farm-fresh bratwurst or kielbasa into wheels
Roughly chop a sweet white onion and your favorite color bell peppers
Add a dash of oil to your pan and sautee onion, peppers and sausage over medium heat until your sausage has crisp edges.
Serve it with a big scoop of sauerkraut, pickles, sour cream or mustard. Maybe some bread or potatoes on the side!
Optionally, you can cook some sauerkraut with the sausage and veggies to infuse it with flavor. But you want those live microorganisms, so make sure you add some uncooked to your meal as well.
You can see how easy it can be to make your kitchen favorites into fermented food recipes. Ferments make a great garnish, enrich and add complexity of flavor, and transform the basic into the interesting. What are your favorite go-to dishes that you might pair with a ferment tonight?
Check out Hosta Hill’s offers online, or see where you can get yours locally in New England and New York!
Photo by Gary Barnes from Pexels