ooh, that sounds great on the salad dressing. I've got a fresh quart of purple garlicky kraut juice right now after last week's batch of kraut got devoured at a party this afternoon.

I'm in the process of brining some garlic in another quart of ex-kraut brine right now .I'm going to give it a couple of months in brine, part of that being in the fridge, because I'm going out of town. Last time I tried this it didn't really brine as rapidly as cut vegetables (ie pickles) would have, so I'm guessing that a good long while is necessary.

My understanding is that cabbage is particularly good at fermenting this way, as acidophilus supposedly grows wild most readily on cabbage leaves, and that other some veggies aren't as prone to proper acidophilus fermentation without some help. I think this is why the Nourishing Traditions geeks like to ferment things like carrots in their fermented cheese whey- to give the carrot pieces a head start on the proper microbes. So cabbage kraut brine seems like a good start for other vegetable ferments.