 So, along with the garden, we have started growing sprouts! The illustrator came across some information about sprouts recently while we were doing some research at our local bookstore about gardening. So, when got home, we started to look around for more details on sprouts. There is quite a bit of information online. You can get some good details here and here. These sites give you some great information on how to grow sprouts and what you get from them. These babies are so packed with nutrients while being low calorie! That is definitely a food I am interested in learning more about! Now, when we started this process, we did not have a clue how quickly they would grow or how many there would be. So we started with a half cup of dried beans every day for the first 3 days. Well, our jars runeth over! The lentils grow like crazy! This was the first time I ever tried lentil sprouts before and I really liked them. Now I have to find some quick and easy ways to introduce them into the foods we are eating! I have to use them up because I can't bear to let them go bad! I started using them in bean burgers and my quick cabbage stew! Both were great! The lentil sprouts have a slightly peppery taste and are crispy so they worked well in both of those recipes! They go great in salads too, so get to making some sprouts!
 These are the lentil sprouts full grown.
Lentil Sprouts 1/2 cup dried lentils (we used green from the store)
Soak lentils 8 hours in a jar. Place a mesh on top of the jar and drain the water off the beans. Store in a place outside of direct sun light. Rinse and drain 3 times a day for 3 days. Then refrigerate in a container lined with paper towels.
1 cup = 82 calories  This is my unrolled cabbage rolls with lentil sprouts instead of soy crumbles.  Blackeyed pea burgers with sprouted lentils (these were amazing - we were tearing into these things while we cleaned the dishes)! Oh, and I had mine with braised kale while the others ate them on buns.  These were the garbanzo beans that we were too afraid to eat...they smelled funny, but we will try them again soon.  Oh, and these are mung beans getting ready. The jar on the right is soaking while the one on the left is just starting to sprout. These are what most people think of as bean sprouts and I can't wait to make some vegetable fired rice with these! Labels: beans, burgers, main courses, vegetables |
WONDERFUL!!