Homemade Pickles & Pressed Salad

Easy Homemade Pickles

Sea Salt, Shoyu or Umeboshi Vinegar Pickles

Making pickles is so easy! It takes less than an hour to make yourself a tasty selection. I usually make 2 jars of sea salt pickles, 2 jars umeboshi vinegar pickles and 2 jars of shoyu pickles and in that way I have a nice variety that will last for 2-4 weeks.

Ingredients

Instructions for sea salt pickles

1. Wash the vegetables, and cut them in bite size pieces. The precise size doesn’t matter, what does matter is that they are all cut in equal thickness so that they pickle at the same rate
2. Bring 1 liter/4cups of water to boil with 30 grams / 1 Tbsp sea salt and simmer for 5 minutes
3. Place a small piece of kombu (1inch/2.5cm) in the bottom of 2 clean glass jars, and stack the vegetables on top.
4. Fill the jars nearly to the top with the sliced vegetables.
5. When the salty water is at room temperature, fill the jars to cover the vegetables.
6. Cover the vegetables with a ½ inch layer of sauerkraut. This will keep the veggies under the salty solution and keep your pickles from spoiling
7. Cover the jars with cheese cloth (thin, breathable cotton) and secure with a rubber band.
8. Place jars on a kitchen window sill or other relatively cool place. Let them stand for 4-5 days (or 2-3 days in the summer or in warmer climates)
9. When you think your pickles are ready, give them a taste. If you like them, then they are ready!
10. The sauerkraut on top often molds a little – don’t worry, just remove it and your pickles are fine.
11. Once you are happy with your pickles you can cover your jars with lids and store in the refrigerator. They will stay good for several weeks.

Variations

To make shoyu or umeboshi vinegar pickles
Boil the water in the same way as for the sea salt pickles and then cool the water and instead of adding sea salt add ¾ cup / 200 ml of shoyu or umeboshi vinegar to 3 ½ cups / 800 ml water. You need between 1/5 and 1/6 salty agent ratio to the water. Use this solution as described above for the sea salt pickles.

Pressed Pro-biotic Salad

Description

This is a wonderful refreshing dish all year round. Not only is it nutritionally rich, but it introduces lots of healthy pro-biotic bacteria to your intestines. Raw salad is not easy to digest but because this is “cooked” with salt, pressure and time. The cell walls of the vegetables are broken down, making it easy to digest; and since no heat is used all the enzymes of raw food remain intact. This recipe is quick and easy to make. To refresh your body and supply it with plenty of healthy bacteria prepare a pressed pro-biotic salad 2-3 x / week.

Ingredients

• 2 ½ cups Chinese cabbage or white cabbage, sliced thinly. If you use white cabbage cut it very thin since it takes longer to press.
• ½ cup red or white radish cut in thin slices
• 1cup cucumber, peeled if not organic and cut in quarter moons
• 1 inch piece kombu sea vegetable, soaked and cut in very thin strips
• ¼ tsp sea salt and 1 tsp shiso powder or 1 tsp sea salt
• ½ cup of toasted pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds or sunflower seeds

Instructions

1. Combine the vegetables, sea salt and Shiso powder in a bowl and gently work them together with your hands.
2. Transfer to a salad press or use a bowl with a plate and a 1kg weight.
3. Let it stand for 1 hour or more then drain away any water the vegetables have released.
4. Serve garnished with the toasted seeds and dressing of your choice

Tips

If you make pressed salad too salty the vegetables start to disintegrate and if you use too little salt they don’t ‘cook’ and release their juices. Once you mix your salad with the sea salt or umeboshi vinegar the taste should be slightly salty but mild. If it does end up too salty you can always give it a quick rinse with cold water.

(This is a salad press, available online or you can also use a bowl, a plate and a weight)