When I was a little girl, I used to “help” my Grandma Rosie pickle cucumbers, green tomatoes, and even garlic, which sometimes developed an interesting blue color as it fermented in the pickling juice. We loved her homemade pickles, and we still do. This post is also a shoutout to longstanding and devoted YHIOYP reader Joe G, who absolutely loves Grandma Rosie’s pickles and has made them on many occasions since I first wrote about them.

This particular recipe is not one of my Grandma”s, but rather one I found in a cookbook on Latin American cuisine. It tastes fantastic, a festival of flavors on your tongue, and it goes great with summer picnics and barbecues. It’s called curtido, and is a little bit like sauerkraut, except only lightly fermented and with a whole lot of attitude. I suspect Joe will notice that curtido bears some resemblance to kimchi. My friend and neighbor Jennifer dropped off a huge gorgeous perfect cabbage yesterday (rejected from her weekly CSA shipment, don’t ask!) and this is what I intend to do with it. I don’t happen to have any kale, but I’ll figure it out. I am very happy to say that I do actually have some ginger root.

I’m not sure if my two-year-old granddaughter will agree to take a taste, you never know, but I can say that she and her brother are particularly adventuresome eaters. I hope she will, because she had a course of antibiotics last week and seems to be suffering some of the unpleasant side effects of knocking out your good gut flora. Hopefully this will do the trick, even if she tastes just a tiny fingerful of the juice. Rich in probiotics as they are, fermented foods are especially good for our bellies. You can consider this recipe a nutritional powerhouse.

Enjoy the fourth!

• 1 small cabbage, cored and outer leaves removed
• 3 large carrots, peeled
• 1 small-medium onion
• 1 inch piece of ginger, peeled
• 1-2 handfuls of kale, center ribs removed
• 1 green apple, peeled and cored
• 1 tsp. dried oregano
• 1 /2 tsp. red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp. sea salt
• 1 1/2 cups raw apple cider vinegar
• 1 1/2 cups water (more as needed)

Shred the vegetables, ginger and apple in a food processor, or chop finely with sharp knife. Place in large bowl and mix in the oregano and red pepper.

Spoon the vegetables into two quart-size jars or a medium-large clay crock, and press down hard with your fist or the back of large wooden spoon until packed as tightly as possible. Leave at least a 1-inch space between the top of the cabbage and top of the jar.

Mix together the salt, vinegar, and water, and pour into the vegetables, dividing into equal amounts if you are using jars. Add more water if needed to keep the liquid level just slightly above the veggies. Cover tightly and allow to ferment at room temperature for three days. Then enjoy, and transfer any leftovers to the refrigerator.