She Cut Off Their Tails...

and made liver cleansing juices and beet kvass.*


My friend and sustainable nut, Kelly, recently taught me how to make some fermented foods, sauerkraut and kvass, using the whey from cultured yogurt (Brown Cow makes quick whey if you are in a hurry).

Basically a beet kvass is a slightly fermented drink made by soaking cubed beets with whey, ginger, a drop of lavender oil, and some salt — everything in a sterilized container. You can see how I hurriedly wrote up the recipe on the jar as Kelly was leaving. After a couple days in a dark cupboard you end up with a fairly mild, sweet and healthful drink. Apparently it's better than just juicing beets because the fermentation neutralizes the acids. Here's a similar recipe, if you're inclined. Unfortunately my kvass turned out too salty (we experimented with sulfuric Black Salt, which was a bit gnar), but the one Kelly made was dee-lish. I even liked her green drink, which was made with weeds harvested from her alley! If you're local and looking to learn how to make therapeutic foods, Kelly's your gal.


I'm also really excited about the kraut. We have a local, kim chee-style raw kraut that we love, but it's pricey. I'm hoping to make a homemade replacement. A couple more weeks and we get to try out the stinky goodness.

More creepy beet root pics here.

----------

*Thanks to Blaize for pointing out that this kvass is not the same as the traditional Russian drink.