Actually, you could use any radish’y root vegetable if you don’t have turnips hanging around. I tried this technique first on kohlrabi - I mean, honestly, what do you do when the CSA give you a kohlrabi the size of your head? You have to ferment, or you’ll never get through it.
Shish Taouk is a Lebanese spice mix. I use it here for the flavor, along with a beet to make it pink. If you’ve ever had shawarma or falafel with delicious tangy pink morsels tucked in under the tzatziki sauce, those might be the fermented vegetables you’re about to make.
Spice mix ingredients
Mix the following together in a small bowl. It makes extra, so you might use is as a dry rub, or add it to some oil/acid and marinate with it.
1 teaspoon each of paprika (regular or smoked - your call) and ground allspice
0.5 teaspoon cinnamon, ground ginger, oregano, white pepper (could use black, if so, use a little less), nutmeg, garlic powder
Other ingredients
1 bay leaf
3 garlic cloves sliced
3 small turnips
1-2 small beets
3% brine (2 teaspoons of salt dissolved in 2 cups of water, or 15 g salt in 500 ml water)
Method:
1) Slice turnips and beets into spears
2) put sliced garlic in the bottom of a pint jar and fill with upright vegetable spears. Slide the bay leaf down the side. Insert a few remaining spears in the middle to pack the veggies tightly, wedging them in so they cannot move. Once they start fermenting, the veggie spears will soften and the CO2 released during fermentation will float them if they are not packed in. The goal is to keep them submerged for the entire fermentation. If you have a fermentation weight, you could use it here, but that’s optional.
3) Fill the jar with brine to at leas an inch above the veggies, but also leaving about an inch at the top (less likely to spill that way). Loosely cover with a lid.
4) Put the jars on a plate in a room temperature spot out of the light, and allow to ferment for up to 3 weeks. Check them every day to make sure they are submerged. If something floats, create another vegetable stick or two - carrots are a good shapes - and wedge everything back down under the surface.
5) Enjoy your pink and delicious fermented vegetables with falafel and tzatziki, roasted chicken, tossed into salads or simply as a vibrantly-colored snack.
