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Fermented Herbs

Fermented Herbs

Chelsea
A delicious way to both preserve the excess fresh herbs of summer for use later and to add probiotics to your diet!
Prep Time 5 minutes

Ingredients
  

  • Enough chopped herbs to fill a mason jar quart or pint
  • Celtic sea salt
  • Filtered water
  • Starter culture optional, I use Cutting Edge

Instructions
 

  • If you are using a starter culture, dissolve it into a couple of tablespoons of filtered water. The packet will tell you how much salt to use with the starter. For my starter culture, I use 1 tablespoon of Celtic salt with 1 1/4 teaspoons starter.
  • Dissolve the Celtic salt in hot water. If you are not using a starter culture, your brine will need more salt. In this case, dissolve 3 tablespoons of Celtic salt in one quart of hot or warm water.
  • Next, chop your herbs. I like to do this by hand for ferments that I am going to add to salsa, but I like to do it in the food processor for the fermented herbs that I want to add to salad dressings or dips.
  • Pack your jar tightly with your chopped herbs. I love to add a couple of cloves of garlic as well.
  • If you are using a starter culture, pour it over the herbs now. Fill the jar the rest of the way with your dissolved salt water (be sure it is cooled down so that it doesn't kill the starter!) If any of the herbs are not covered in water, pour filtered water into the jar until they are completely covered.
  • Use a fermentation weight or a large flat rock to weigh down the herbs and keep them under the brine.
  • Top with an airlock lid or a regular lid if you don't have one.
  • Leave on your counter out of direct sunlight for about 3 days. Check on your herbs periodically during this time to be sure that the herbs are submerged and to check the flavor. In the warmer temperatures of summer, it will ferment much faster than if you were making it during the winter.
  • Once your fermented herbs have reached the flavor you like, replace the airlock lid with a regular or plastic mason jar lid and refrigerate.
  • Use your herbs in salad dressings, add them to dips, or create fresh salsas with them. Really, the possibilities are endless.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!