If you’re like I was, you were very excited the first time you made fire cider.
I visualized my highest possible health as I washed, peeled, and minced my ingredients. I imagined wellness itself steeping in that beautiful Mason jar. I was positively dizzy with the anticipation of my first nourishing sip. I was hooked before the line was even in the water.
And then I tasted it.
b l a r g h . I was not, initially, uh, y’know, “excited” about the taste…
NOW WHAT? I had a huge batch of fire cider and an emotional investment in making it for the rest of my life.
But I was clearly not going to be one of those people who just starts swigging fire cider each morning right out of the gate.
This is where bonus recipes CAME in, y’all.
Don’t worry if you aren’t ready to sip your fire cider at 6 AM. I wasn’t either! Learn to love it by using it in other ways! There are so many possibilities! (Though to be fair it’s the raw, straight, and/or mixed with honey fire cider that’s likely to deliver the shortest distance between you and all of the benefits of fire cider!) Herewith some of our favorite other ways to use the delicious fire cider that I still make (and now happily drink!).
*OTHER* WAYS TO USE FIRE CIDER
We eat a lot of salads and veg in our home, so we regularly have a homemade dressing on hand. FIRE CIDER SALAD DRESSING is simply our delicious fire cider used in our favorite salad dressing recipe. Don’t already have a favorite recipe you can sub your fire cider into? Try one of mine:
MONTMARTRE SALAD DRESSING
INGREDIENTS |
Beat egg in a stainless steel bowl.
In a separate bowl, whisk the honey and fire cider together. Add oil to egg slowly, beating constantly, alternating with vinegar/honey mixture. (If you have an emulsifying stick blender or Vitamix, so much the better!) Add spices and Worcestershire; mix/stir well to blend. Refrigerate at least two hours before using; keeps up to two weeks. © 2016 Kristina Bauer |
| 1 organic egg
2 3/4 cup organic vegetable oil (we like a mix of olive, avocado, and sunflower oil) 1 cup organic fire cider 1/2 cup honey 2 tsp salt 3/4 tsp EACH dried black pepper, oregano, basil, garlic powder 3/4 tsp Worcestershire sauce |
Use as you would any salad dressing, though it’s particularly delicious in a wilted spinach salad with hard boiled eggs and crumbled bacon. NOM.
SUPERIOR BONE BROTH
If you aren’t using vinegar in conjunction with your homemade BONE BROTH, you actually won’t get the full benefit: vinegar helps pull minerals from the marrow, a process that slows when the bones begin heating up.
For your best bone broth ever, place bones in your stock pot and cover with water, measuring water as you go. When bones are covered, add 4T to 1/2 cup fire cider per gallon of water used.
Let the bones soak for one hour before adding other ingredients or beginning to heat. From there, commence as you typically would with your favorite bone broth recipe.
In the heat of the summer, when evenings are breezy and loooong, we regularly barbecue and picnic. These two recipes are favorites at our house: first a rich marinade and zesty BBQ sauce, next a delicious cole slaw.
fire cider MARINADE & BBQ SAUCE
INGREDIENTS |
Stir all ingredients together in a large bowl.
Turn your items (ribs, chops, wings, you call it!) Let them marinate at least to hours up to overnight. Cook on the grill or under the broiler to desired done-ness and tenderness. |
| 1/3 cup organic tomato puree
3T organic ketchup 1T brown sugar 2T raw organic local honey 1 clove organic garlic, minced or pressed 1/4 cup fire cider salt & pepper |
FIRE CIDER COLE SLAW
INGREDIENTS |
In a large bowl, whisk together fire cider, lime juice, local honey, and mayonnaise until smooth and well blended. Add sliced cabbage, carrots, radishes, fennel bulb, and apple; toss until well blended.© 2016 Kristina Bauer |
| 1/4 organic red cabbage, thinly shredded
2 carrots, halved and thinly sliced 2 organic radishes, thinly sliced 1 organic fennel bulb, thinly sliced 1 organic tart apple (such as Granny Smith), cored and thinly sliced 2T fire cider juice of 1 organic lime 2T raw local honey 1T organic canola mayonnaise Salt & pepper |
By now you get the idea–FIRE CIDER is incredible and incredibly handy. Hungry for more? You’re in luck: I’ve got more recipes to share… Get ready for stir fry, a fire cider smoothie, and the Fiery Mary, coming soon.
**Whaddya mean you haven’t made fire cider yet? Check out this post and get it done!
I didn’t like the taste of my fire cider at first either, but I found that adding salt really improved it (along with honey). It’s actually quite addictive now. Love all of your ideas for other ways to use it. I hadn’t gotten past salad dressing and martinis, so it’s great to have a host of new ideas – thanks!
Thank you! So glad you found some new ways to enjoy it. I’m going to have to try adding a little salt to it now myself… 😉