A Quick Pickle
Learning how to do a quick pickle is a pretty indispensable talent and it takes less than a minute to make. You might ask why? Why would I want to pickle anything in 5 minutes? The simple answer: it’s damn healthy!
The history of the Clay Pot
It’s been noted that pickling is an ancient, age-old ritual that was in fact, an essential survival practice throughout history. The practice of pickling sustained people, families and tribes through the long, harsh, cold winters. Preserving foods has been in practice almost as long as humans have been walking. Historically, pickling took place in special clay pots or jugs called “Römer Topf”. For centuries, roemer topf were made by special artisans who used properly balanced ingredients from the earth, to make clay pots indispensable in past cultures. In short, the pickling practice was a survival practice.
Today, the need to pickle has left our DNA. It seems we don’t worry much about our food survival practices much beyond the grocery store! It’s sad too, because it shows from so many aspects in our society just how far we’ve gone away from our roots. But, that doesn’t have to be the case for all of us. Committing yourself to good health and clean living just takes some learning.
Pickling for health!
In terms of health, I know I need a healthy, superior immune system. I also know that my immune system is over 90% governed by digestive system and my gut. The “gut”, AKA, the intestinal tract, and where all that necessary bacteria and flora thrive in colonies. The fact is that we have such a diverse collections of so many lethal strains of bacteria, I’m afraid to find out. Yet, it’s essential to our good health, and this post is to show you how easy it is to get it, and keep it in fighting shape. So, to simplify this statement is to say that we should be in constant practice of providing our gut with live bacteria.
There’s many ways to do this. Consuming raw dairy products is one way. Taking a pro-biotic in tablet, capsule or powder form is another. Or, you can just up your consumption of fermented foods and drinks. Kombucha is an easy fermented drinkable option. I’ve posted a recipe on how to begin and keep your kombucha starter alive. I’ve had my kombucha alive and active for over 6 years now. I use Kombucha in my Hari krishna dressing, and I’m adding it to my pickling recipe.
It’s about the pickle here
But this article is about the quick, home-made 5 minute option that anyone and everyone can make at home. I call it the quick, 5 minute pickle. My inspiration for this recipe began with an idea Jamie Oliver was demonstrating. It too was a quick pickle, but with different additives. None the less, it looked delicious and got my salivation glands pumping. It was time to get our guts healthy again, and it was no only going to be simple, but beautiful too.
I decided the next day, I was pickling. In search of the brightest and prettiest varieties of beets, and carrots I could find, which meant heirloom varieties. I opted for purple heirloom carrots which are loaded with lycopene. That’s the stuff we need to protect us against free radicals and if that’s not enough, it’s high on the anti-oxidant level too. Plus, they are high in beta carotene and Vitamin A:
Heirloom chioggia beets which are rich in anti-oxidants, iron, fiber, potassium and so much more!:
and for the health of it, fennel which are also high in anti-oxidants, vitamins A and C, and fiber plus is high in anti-inflammatory properties.
The perfect pickle
Now, who could argue with those facts? The health benefits are irrefutable. It’s not too often that the health benefits are as beautiful as the appearance, but in this case it is. The end result are bowls of beautifully prepared, pickled heirloom vegetables. With colors as bright as the rainbow, your gut is smiling from the inside out. It’s a beautiful option to serve for appetizers, or to accompany your salad. It goes great with hummus, piled on rice, on sandwiches or just hand to mouth.
The Quick Pickle
Ingredients
- 1 large whole chioggia beet peeled
- 2 large purple carrots peeled
- 1 whole head of fennel sliced top and bottom, ready for parallel cuts
- 1 small red onion sliced thin
- 1 TBS raw sugar for each mixture
- 5 TBS white vinegar for each mixture. Apple cider vinegar is also an option
- 1 pinch coriander seeds
- 1 pinch caraway seeds
- 1 TBS kombucha
Instructions
- The only tool you need here may be a julienner or a mandolin tool. I like to make my carrots into strips, while the beets I like round. For the fennel, I just do thin parallel cuts
- so, slice the peeled carrots with the slicer or stick attachment
- next slice your peeled beet
- and slice the fennel
- sprinkle a tsp of sugar on each batch, followed by 5 TBS of vinegar
- stir up, add some coriander seeds and caraway seeds if you like the taste. Otherwise, stir up, let sit for about 5 minutes and serve. Store what you don't finish in a container in the fridge and take from it whenever you'd like to.
