Real Food in Little Rock: Radish Relish

Oct 12, 2011

Radish Relish

The weekends are few that the farmers markets will be open. Take advantage of this incredible weather and visit one on Saturday! I enjoy going to Argenta but don't forget there's also one near Pulaski Heights Baptist Church on Kavanaugh.

Last Saturday I came home from the market with turnips and LOTS of radishes.

After trimming and washing them,

I shredded them with carrots, onions and a bit of garlic.

Added some salt and whey and put it in a jar. It will sit on my counter for 3-4 days, while it does its lacto-fermenting magic. (This is a simple way to preserve food while increasing its nutritional value.)

In the Fall 2011 Wise Traditions (journal for the Weston A. Price Foundation), on page 65 Jen Allbritton, CN, writes:

Lacto-fermented foods encourage digestion and absorption of nutrients, build the good bacterial ecology in the gut, boost immunity, assist in detoxification and taste delicious!

Making this relish helps me to accomplish two of my new year's real food resolutions: to eat locally and to eat a fermented food with every meal.

What to do with this relish?

Lacto-fermented veggies are eaten as a condiment, a couple tablespoons at a time, not as a side dish. I use this relish on tacos, in salads, or on a hamburger. Now that soup-season is here, the saltiness goes well in soups (add after the soup is cooled a bit so as not to kill all the active enzymes and beneficial bacteria.)

One of the great things about lacto-fermenting is that you can do it in any quantity, from a pint jar up to a gallon or more. The limit is the size of your container.

Ingredients for 3 quarts:

radishes, about 8 bunches

turnips, about 6-8

3 large carrots

one yellow onion

3 garlic cloves

3 Tablespoons of Real Salt (not iodized)

1/2 cup whey

filtered water to cover the veggies, if there is not enough juice.

Other posts on lacto-fermenting:

Radish and kohlrabi (from the spring)

banana peppers