Probiotic packed Salsa

Probiotics are beneficial organisms that we all need to have a healthy immune system.  The majority of our immune system is located in our gut and is teeming with all sorts of bacteria.  Most of these are beneficial but sometimes things can become out of balance and create an illness in our bodies.  A great way to make sure our body gets the beneficial organisms it needs is to consume fermented or cultured foods regularly.  Not only does it help our health but it also helps to preserve the food for a much longer time.  This was how many foods were kept before refrigeration! One of my favorite recipes is a fermented salsa.  It’s easy to make and the fermentation gives it a little extra kick! For this recipe you will need  to have some whey on hand.  If you know someone who has access to raw pastured milk that would be the gold standard to use for this but if you do not have access to it no worries,  I will tell you how to make your own at the end of the salsa recipe.

Mild Salsa

Ingredients:

5 tomatoes or 9 Roma tomatoes, cut and cored

2  small onions peeled and quartered

1 medium green pepper

1-2 cloves of garlic

1/2 cup cilantro leaves, packed

1/2 Tablespoon sea salt

1/4 cup Whey

1/8 cup lemon or lime juice (I prefer lime)

What you do:

Depending on how you like to have your salsa you can either chop up the tomato, onion, pepper, garlic and cilantro into chunks or if you prefer it to be much thinner you can pulse a couple of times in a food processor to reach desired consistency. Transfer salsa to a wide mouth quart jar and pack down until it has about a 1″ head space at the top.  Then place regular lid or airlock lid on and allow it to sit on the counter for 2-3 days.  If you have an airlock lid it is really fun to watch when the fermentation process starts as you will see lots of bubbles escaping through the airlock.  After 2-3 days transfer to refrigerator and enjoy!

Whey

Whey is the liquid part of the milk that separates from the milk when it clabbers and the best whey to use is from pastured raw milk because all of the live cultures haven’t been killed in the heating process.  If however you don’t have access to raw milk you can make your own whey!

What you need:

1 quart of plain yogurt or clabber ( Using raw milk clabber is best but if that can’t be found try non-homogenized or low temp. pasteurized milk, ultra pasteurized will not work here)

Colander and two pieces of cheesecloth.

Place colander over a bowl and lay the two pieces of cheesecloth in colander.  Pour yogurt or clabber into cheesecloth and pull ends up and tie together.  Hang over colander for a quicker separation or just simply let it remain there for the day.  What you will have left in the bowl is whey.  Save this whey in an airtight glass jar in the refrigerator for several weeks.  Discard if any mold begins to form.  This whey is very valuable!  You can make fermented salsa, pickles, sour kraut and numerous other healthy probiotic rich foods.  I even add the whey to my homemade mayo to help it last a lot longer then it normally would last. Fermenting food can be a lot of fun and a tasty way to build up your immune system.