Recipe- 4 Recipes To Help You Keep Your Stomach And Gut Healthy

Caring for your gut (including making some gut friendly recipes) is a very important component of a good health routine. Every day, it seems that yet another study links its bacteria to some component of well-being, whether it’s mental health or clear skin. Taking probiotics is obviously one way to boost your microbiome, but we prefer these 4 recipes to help your stomach and improve your overall gut health.

# Citrus and Rosemary Kombucha

Ingredients

64 oz unflavored finished kombucha
3 large sprigs fresh rosemary
Juice from one ruby red grapefruit
Zest of one lemon

Method

- Juice the grapefruit

- Zest the lemon

- Add grapefruit juice, lemon zest and rosemary into a large glass jar

- Pour the kombucha into the glass jar

- Mix up all ingredients really well

- Cover top of jar with a tight weave cloth or coffee filter and secure with rubberband

- Let sit at room temperate for 72 hours

- After 72 hours, stir up everything again

- Strain and enjoy

- For a fizzy kombucha, bottle after straining and keep at room temperature for an additional 5-7 days before transferring to the refrigerator.

# Dandelion and Chicory Chai

Ingredients

1/2 cup (120 milliliters) water
2 thin slices fresh ginger
1 teaspoon coarsely ground roasted dandelion root
1 teaspoon coarsely ground roasted chicory root (or, if you haven't got it, an extra 1 teaspoon dandelion root)
2 black peppercorns, cracked
2 green cardamom pods, cracked
1 whole clove
1 (1-inch) (2.5-centimeter) piece of cinnamon stick, broken into pieces
1/2 cup (120 milliliters) milk of your choice
1 tablespoon (20 grams) honey

Method

- Combine the water, ginger, dandelion root, chicory root, peppercorns, cardamom, clove, and cinnamon in a saucepan.

- Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, covered, for 5 minutes.

- Add the milk and honey; increase the heat to medium, and bring to a boil again, uncovered.

- Remove from the heat and strain into a cup. Discard the solids and serve immediately.

# Belgian endive salad with apples and goat cheese

Ingredients

4 medium heads Belgian endive outer removed, then halved
2 medium fuji or honeycrisp apples cored, halved, and sliced
1 cup walnuts
½ cup crumbled goat cheese
2 teaspoon white wine vinegar
2 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon finely minced shallot
salt and pepper
fresh parsley

Method

- Combine endive, apples, walnuts, and goat cheese in a large bowl. Set aside.

- Combine vinegar, oil, and lemon juice in a small bowl and whisk until emulsified. Stir in shallot.

- Pour vinegar mixture over endive mixture and toss to evenly coat.

- Season with salt and pepper. Serve with fresh parsley.

# Garlic Cumin Sauerkraut

Ingredients

10 garlic cloves, peeled
2 T. whole cumin seeds
2 T. whole celery seeds
1 t. ground black pepper
2/3 c. sea salt*
13-15 c. filtered water (will vary depending on size of your cabbage)
2 heads organic green cabbage
dry goods: 5 quart jars, coffee filters (optional) and rubber bands

Method

- In a large saucepan, combine the garlic, cumin seeds, celery seeds, black pepper, sea salt, and filtered water. Heat over medium heat until the water just begins to simmer, whisking occasionally to help dissolve the salt. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature.

- Peel the outer leaves of the cabbage and rinse well with a veggie wash. After cleaning, peel 2 large leaves from each head of cabbage and set them aside.

- Chop the remaining cabbage into managable bite-size pieces (I like to use the shred or blade attachment on my food processor, saves A LOT of time). Pack the chopped cabbage very tightly into 5 sanitized glass quart jars. 2 heads of cabbage should fill 5 jars, give or take.

- From the cooled saltwater mix, move two garlic cloves into each of the jars. Then portion the liquid between the 5 jars, tapping the jars once or twice to make the jars are filled.

- Tear a section from the reserved outer leaves (you’ll need to make sure you have 5 pieces total) and press into a jar, allowing it to submerge the chopped cabbage completely.

- Using your fingers, press the large piece down on the chopped cabbage until it’s submerged and you see bubbles rise to the surface. Do this once or twice until you no longer see bubbles rising. Repeat with remaining 4 jars.

- Cover each jar with a coffee filter and seal with a rubber band, as shown above. Leave at room temperature for 5-7 days to ferment (or longer if your house is on the cooler side).

- Test for taste at 3 or 4 days and press the top cabbage layer to remove bubbles that have formed from the fermentation process. The longer the jars are left out, the stronger the soured taste will be.

- Once it’s fermented to your liking, seal well with regular quart lids and move to the refrigerator. Fermented veggies keep for 3-6 months (sometimes longer!) when refrigerated because the cold slows the fermentation process dramatically.