If there’s anything I love more than helping to save the planet, it’s having fun while doing it! Canning is a great (and fun) way to take any fruits or veggies you have in surplus and preserve it for later. It’s also a great way to eat more fruits and veggies! And while canning may not sound like your idea of #SundayFunday, if you’re anything like me, it soon will be!
When most people think of canning, they think jams and jellies. But canning can be so much more than that! Recently, my favorite method of canning has been for pickling and fermenting. Pickled veggies are a super hot trend at Farm to Table restaurants—I’ve seen picked cauliflower, green beans and carrots at a few of the local hot spots. They’re super tasty and add an extra oomph to any dish (burgers, salads, tacos, you name it!). I’ve also seen jars of pickled produce as decoration around these restaurants!
Not only are pickled produce tasty (and great décor), but when fermented, can be a great addition to our diets for some gut health! Fermented foods contain probiotics, or good bacteria, which help to facilitate with good digestion! Filling our guts with probiotics also helps to keep the bad bacteria at bay. So any way you spin it, fermented fruits and veggies are just plain GOOD—good for the planet, good for your health, and good for your tastebuds!
I made these Quick Fermented Radishes & Cucumbers and let me tell you, they’re easy to make, look beautiful, and taste great on burgers (I sometimes even eat them as a snack)!
Here are a couple of other quick recipes to get you started on your canning adventures.
Sweet-and-Sour Pickled Watermelon Rind
Happy canning and happy gut health!
*Please note: Home canning is a great way to preserve produce, but it can be risky if not done correctly and safely. Home-canned vegetables are the most common cause of botulism outbreaks in the United States. Learn how you can preserve vegetables—as well as fruits, meats, seafood, and more—correctly and safely here.*
The post Fermentation & Canning Bountiful Harvests first appeared in The Foundation for Fresh Produce’s Have A Plant® blog.
Written by: Thu Huynh, RD, LDN
Thu is a Registered Dietitian and Nutritionist for the Healthy Living Team at Giant Food. A proud millennial mommy, Thu loves good food made easy–saving time for cold brew mornings and evening wine downs. Check out her blog series, the Healthy Living Team’s podcast Nutrition Made Easy!, nutrition classes and more at www.giantfood.com/nutrition.
About The Foundation For Fresh Produce And Have A Plant® Movement
The Foundation for Fresh Produce’s vision is to grow a healthier world by changing the trajectory of human health. The produce industry has the potential to provide solutions for many of the world’s greatest health and economic challenges – especially those surrounding nutrition and hunger.
The Foundation focuses on improving the appeal of fruit and vegetables as an integral part of people’s diets, supporting the development of infrastructure and supply chain solutions that provide easier access, and establishing strategic alliances that enable children and families to form healthier eating habits.
The transformative Have A Plant® Movement inspires consumers with compelling reasons to believe in the powerful role fruits and vegetables can play to fuel happy, healthy and active lifestyles.
