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It is easy to preserve a range of vegetables through fermentation or by quick-pickling them and covering them in oil.
Ingredients
- Leaves from assorted vegetables such as beet, carrot, scallion, kohlrabi, parsley, turnip and winter radish
- Pieces of root vegetables, including carrot, celeriac, kohlrabi, parsnip, rutabaga, turnip and winter radish
- Salt (1 teaspoon per pound of vegetables)
- Water
Directions
- Wash and dry then chop or shred all vegetables.
- Place vegetables in sterilized canning jars (for sterilizing instructions, visit the National Center for Home Food Preservation), layering with salt. Pack firmly so vegetables are forced below liquid that seeps out; add water if necessary. Do not overfill jars; leave room for the bubbling of fermenting juices.
- Wipe rims clean, put lids on jars and store them in a cool, dark place. Release pressure by unscrewing the lids in the first few days, then reseal. Check for your preferred taste at around 2 days, 2 weeks and 2 months. The vegetables will continue to soften and acidify.
- Transfer jars to refrigerator as you open and use them. Learn more preservation techniques in Preserving Fruits and Vegetables for Winter.
Use these preserved roots and leaves to season all kinds of vegetable dishes and cooked grains. Though you can ferment a mix of vegetables in the same jar, if you assign a single ingredient to each jar, you’ll be able to use individual vegetable condiments to season specific dishes. For example, fermented beets add a nice tamari flavor to other foods, and fermented carrots are a great addition to savory pancakes.
