Nightshade-Free Kimchi

Gut healing is slow, patient work, at the center of the ARM path, and a spoonful of living fermented vegetables each day is one of the simplest ways to support it. This kimchi skips the chili most kimchi leans on and gets its warmth from ginger and garlic instead, so it stays fully inside the Autoimmune Protocol.

Fermented vegetables like this are a source of beneficial bacteria, studied for supporting the gut lining and a balanced immune response, the foundation the ARM gut-healing work is built on. The cabbage also brings vitamin C and fiber, which feed those same good bacteria, and it carries all the natural sugar the ferment needs, so nothing has to be added.

Be grateful for the slowness of this one. The ferment does the real work while you go about your days, and when you finally open the jar and smell that bright, sour lift, you will understand why people have made food this way for centuries.

Ingredients

• 1 napa cabbage
• 1/2 cup sea salt (for the brine)
• 1 cup radishes
• 1 cup carrot
• 1/4 cup grated ginger
• 3 garlic cloves

This is a chili-free kimchi, so the gochugaru that most recipes call for is left out, which keeps it free of nightshades. The ginger and garlic carry the heat instead. There is no added sugar. Napa cabbage brings enough of its own for the lacto-fermentation to get going, which is how kimchi was made long before refined sugar was in anyone’s kitchen. Most of the brine salt is rinsed away before the ferment.

Method

• Massage the cabbage with the salt until it releases its juice. Submerge it in cold water and let it brine for 1 day at room temperature.
• Drain and rinse the cabbage, then let it drip-dry for about an hour.
• Toss the cabbage with the radishes, carrot, ginger, and garlic. Pack it tightly into a clean airtight glass jar. A 64-ounce jar fits the batch.
• Hold the jar 1 day in a cool dark place, then move it to the refrigerator for 2 to 7 days before eating.

*Adapted from acleanplate.com*