Fermented Green Beans — The Renata Collective

I love having home-made fermented green beans in the fridge. They are versatile - they can be used in salads, as a summer side dish or as a yummy quick, healthy and satisfying snack. I use the ‘lacto-fermentation’ process - the same raw method that makes traditional dill pickles, sauerkraut and kimchi. It is a very simple fermentation process and all you need is salt, vegetables and water, with simple effort for great results!

Let’s understand the ‘science’ behind how it works. Firstly, the ‘lacto’ has nothing to do with the lactose from dairy (I read that it derived its name from dairy as it was identified when milk was first fermented – the sugar in milk is called ‘lactose’, hence ‘lacto’). Lacto actually refers to the ‘lactobacillus’ bacteria, a probiotic, that is a natural bacterium present in fresh produce, both vegetables and fruits. This lactobacillus converts sugars, which again is naturally present in fresh fruit and veggies (and milk), into lactic acid. It’s this lactic acid that acts as a natural preservative that maintains the texture, the nutrients and the flavour of the food you are fermenting, and it also acts against bad bacteria in the food to keep it from spoiling.

‘Canning’ food is another way to preserve food from spoiling, and the canning process actually preserves food longer than by the raw lacto-fermentation process. Canning isn’t about putting food in cans; it is a more complicated process of preserving food in jars with specialized sterilization protocol and usually involves cooking the food first. The taste is also different to the delicious tart/sour/salty flavour of a lacto-fermented food. And most importantly, the heat when cooking the food to be canned kills the good bacteria and healthful enzymes. Canning can be well worth the effort though, as you will see come Fall when I post my Mother-in-Law’s prize-winning pickled beets recipe!

Both good and bad bacteria live naturally in our bodies – keeping them in balance is a challenge for most of us. Plus, living in our sterile world with ‘anti-bacterial’ everything from hand sanitizers to soaps to cleaning products, pollution, pesticides and food additives, further reduces our delicate gut bacteria balance – our microbiome – a term that we hear often now as more and more research is being done to study its importance and function. Eating food prepared using the lacto-fermentation method has numerous benefits to restore this balance - including providing a boost to the healthy levels of bacteria in the gut for a healthier digestive system, which helps to strengthen and balance our immune system - an imbalance can lead to inflammatory bowel diseases and other inflammations in the body and promising studies have shown that a healthy gut balance can help treat certain types of cancer. Lacto-fermented foods can help to manage weight control which is often due to an imbalance in the gut bacteria and an excess of weight can lead to diabetes and heart disease. While more research needs to be done, there are studies that have shown lacto-fermented foods improved cognitive function including easing of depression and anxiety. This link to Healthline has additional info and links if you want to read more about the benefits, including the benefits of fermented milk and yogurt.

The traditional lacto-fermentation process involves preparing a salt and water ‘brine’ mixture, adding the vegetables of your choosing, adding the spices or seasoning of your choosing, sealing the jar and letting it sit while the salty brine first works to kill off the harmful bacteria, paving the way for the powerhouse lactobacillus, which are not killed off by the salt, to begin converting the sugars present in the food into lactic acid. Again, it is this lactic acid that then creates the acidic solution that safely preserves the food.

If you would like to learn more about Fermentation, I highly recommend this fabulous Fundamentals of Fermentation course that I took through the Academy of Culinary Nutrition, when it is available next time – get on the wait list!

Now, on to my Fermented Green Beans recipe!

Recipe

Crispy, tangy, garlicky green beans! Eat them straight from the jar or cut them up into a fresh salad for that little something extra!

Prep time: 15 minutes / Fermentation time: 3-5 days minimum / Yield: a 500ml jar of delicious fermented green beans

Equipment

1 - 500ml mason jar with a tight sealing lid
1 - 2 cup measuring cup
A piece of parchment paper to put between the jar and the lid
Masking tape and a pen to label your jar

Ingredients

Green beans to fill your jar
Non-chlorinated water enough to cover the vegetables in your jar
1 Tbsp Non-iodized Sea Salt – the iodine inhibits the beneficial bacteria
2 cloves garlic – peeled (or 4 cloves if they are small)

Variations

Use other veggies - carrot sticks, small cucumbers, cauliflower cut into pieces
Experiment with seasoning/spices of your choice, such as 1 tablespoon Dill seeds, 1 tablespoon whole Celery seeds, 1 teaspoon whole cloves, a Bay leaf, 4 x ¼” Ginger slices
Note: for different sized jars, use ½ tablespoon for every cup of water

How It’s Made

One day before - fill a container with a minimum 2 cups of water (for a 500ml jar) and let it sit on the counter for the chlorine to dissipate.
Day of - wash and trim your green beans.
Fill your jar as tightly as you can with the green beans.
Add the garlic to the jar, pushing the cloves down so they are nestled amongst the green beans.
Fill the jar with the water.
Pour the water from the jar into the measuring cup to accurately know how much water you have and how much salt you need.
Add salt accordingly and stir to dissolve – you will need ½ Tbsp per 1 cup of water. I had 1 2/3 cup of water so I used just under 1 Tbsp of salt.
Pour the salted water into the jar.
Loosely put the lid on and cover with a kitchen towel. Leave the jar to rest on the counter for 4-5 days.
After 4-5 days, taste a bean. It will already have a mild fermented taste.
Place a piece of parchment paper over the jar between the jar and the metal lid and ring fastener/lid. This prevents the rubber from the flat lid to disintegrate from the brine. Tighten the lid well. Give the jar a shake.
Label your jar with the veggie used, the date and the seasoning if using a mixture of things.
Put the jar in the fridge to ferment longer. They are ready to eat from this stage onwards – the longer you leave them in the fridge, the richer the fermented taste will be.

Enjoy!!

Tip:

When you are done eating all your delicious fermented beans and are ready to make more, use a half cup of the flavourful brine from the jar as part of the water amount for your next batch! Use the same amount of salt as you would if you used plain water. Some of the salt from the brine will have been used in the fermenting so will not be as strong.