If it’s spring where you live, Nature puts on a new face with new shoots and buds. It’s the right time to change your menu and introduce salads after the cold winter months. Lets grow sprouts to bring the energy of spring to your plate. It’s simple and is a marvel of nature to witness at home, when the small sprouts come out of the grains and seeds.
You will need:
Jars or containers – you can save jam jars from the kitchen. Use transparent glass jar so you can watch your seeds coming to life. It is easier if the jar has a wide opening.
Seeds, beans and grains for sprouting. Not all grains sprout so see below to know more.
Fine mesh or cotton cloth.
Fill one-third of the container with seeds: the seeds with swell when water is added and then take even more space while sprouting.
Pour lukewarm water over the seeds until it reaches two-thirds of the height of the container.
Cover the opening with mesh or cotton cloth.
Let this stay overnight (8 hours) in a clean, well-aired place.
The next day, drain the water.
Rinse the seeds well in drinking water, swishing them around.
Drain again.
Repeat this operation twice a day.
If you live in a warm place, you might have to do it more often, and make sure that you wash the seeds well so that no smell is coming. Be gentle so as not to break the young sprouts.
Watch your seeds turn into sprouts from the first day onwards. It’s spring in your house, no matter what the season. It might take two to five days before they are ready to eat.
When they are ready to eat, rinse them well again before you place a lid on the jar and store it in the fridge. Add sprouts to your salads, eat them as a snack, or have them as a side dish with olive oil, salt and a dash of lemon.
Draw the different stages so that you can share this experience with your friends, and then invite them to share the taste also.
Easy things to sprout
Chickpeas*, lentils, moong beans, adzuki beans.
Quinoa, wild rice*, millet, amaranth grains.
Alfalfa*, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds.
Avoid red kidney beans as they contain a toxic element.
Only seeds that are wild can sprout, choose them from an organic store to make sure they are not treated.
* Needs 12 hour soaking
Sprouts as superfoods
Sprouting a grain makes it richer in vitamin C, E and beta-carotene and in certain amino acids.
The content of fiber and antioxidants also increases when sprouted.
Sprouts increase the absorption of some nutrients by increasing the activity of certain digestive enzymes.
