Kimchi, as well as other fermented foods, are known to be a very powerful part of the human diet that contributes to a healthy gut being it is alive and full of living, healthy good bacteria/probiotics, that energizes the body, boosts immunity, and aids digestion. It is believed to lower cholesterol, regulate blood sugar, and even to fight cancer.
Keeping the gut healthy is an important key in physical, emotional and mental well being, as not only does it play a major role in processing your food, but it is also is becoming more widely known that your gut is actually your second brain!
At the @gardenofeden we take our health very seriously. So we not only eat lots of fermented foods, but we make them ourselves, including kimchi.
For our kimchi we chop an abundance of vegetables into bite-sized pieces using different cutting techniques to acquire interesting textures.
For this rendition of kimchi, we soaked the veggies (here we used cabbage, red and green bell pepper, jalapeno and anaheim peppers--including the seeds because we like it spicy, chives and green onions, red spicy peppers, small broccoli flowerettes, and some crunchy grated carrots) and soaked them in a sea salty bring for a couple of hours.
We used our mandolin to thinly slice zucchini.
Then added it to the veggies in the brine and let them stand for another 15 minutes or so. We drained the brine off of the veggies, but didn't rinse them.
We whipped up a spice blend of ginger, garlic, lemon balm horseradish, lemon mint,jalapeno, serranos, shallots, green onion, paprika, cumin, liquid aminos and pepper in the food processor and mixed it in with all the veggies.
We poured the entire mixture into a sterilized jar, covered it with a cloth, and put in a dark protected place on a shelf for several days.
As we walk by the shelf we begin to smell the spices coming to life in the mixture and test it after a few days to see if the mix is done to our liking. Since the fermentation process depends on many factors (including temperature, saltiness of the brine, air flow, ripeness of the veggies used...) we don't have a set timing for when the mixture will be done. We just use our own taste buds and culinary expertise to decide when the mix is ready, or when we just don't want to wait any longer to have some of these healthful veggies.
Fermented foods have millions of beneficial bacteria, so we eat them as frequently as possible on our sandwiches, in salads, in soups, on eggs, in wraps, in burritos, on pizza....on basically anything...and simply just in a bowl.
I hope you'll get inspired to make some this simple recipe for yourself and loved ones. Your gut will be thankful you did!
Shellie aka @everlove 💞
Amazing!
Enjoying everyday!
Yes we are!