sprouts for any season
The focus and energy of a sprouting seed is inspiring. We tend to get excited about sprouts in the spring – when they start coming up in flower beds and gardens everywhere, but sprouting beans and seeds in your kitchen is great any time of year, especially in winter when it is harder to grow fresh vegetables. It’s a magical process – that of growing food. Sprouting legumes (germinating seeds to eat!) in your home kitchen – brings with it the excitement of planting, yet offers a more “instant” gratification as sprouts are ready to eat within just a couple of days. Homemade lentil sprouts mixed up with toasted pumpkin seeds and raisins – delicious and nutritious! Making your own sprouts is super simple. Mung beans or lentils are great to choices as they are soft legumes and sprout quickly. You can get a sprouting jar – which is just a jar with a screened top: , or you can use a jar with a towel on top.
Directions:
Start with 1/4 cup of lentils and soak them in 2 cups of water overnight. (You can start with a cup of lentils – you just want them covered in a lot of water. In the morning, pour out the water, and rinse the lentils well. Leave them on the counter, still wet but not submerged. Repeat this process of rinsing the lentils, and leaving them wet but not submerged at least twice a day. If you are around more often, rinse them 3-4 times a day.
In 2-3 days, they will have tails between 1/4-1/2 inch long and they will be ready to eat. You can give them a half hour of sunshine at this point to enhance their chlorophyll content. If you aren’t going to be able to eat them quickly, put them in the refrigerator to stop the growing process.
How to eat them?
- mix them with toasted pumpkin seeds and raisins for an on-the-go snack
- top with olive oil, grated parmesan cheese and sea salt for a savory side
- top with olive oil, parmesan cheese and a little cayenne or other pepper for a spicy kick
- add to salads, stir-frys and soups
- add to cooked grains like rice
Do you have any favorite sprouting recipes or stories? Share them!
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Thanks for the heads up. I am going to work on sorting this out. In the meantime, if you go to our blog: http://www.butterbeanskitchen.wordpress.com, rather than going through our website butterbeanskitchen.com, you will see on the upper right hand corner an option to subscribe to the blog via email. This works very well. We just changed our website, and it will take a little while to get the kinks out of the flow. Thank you for your patience and your interest!
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Thanks!
It is our hope that it is useful and enjoyable for many!
I’m glad, visit us again:)
have fun making sprouts! Come back to share your successes!
Thank you! You should definitely start your own blog! Let us know when you do:)
Cheers!
Thank you for your feedback. I am not sure what video you are talking about in this post, as there isn’t one. I do post videos from time to time as our site also serves as a reference for people who may not otherwise see information posted on many other sites. Nonetheless, I do appreciate your asking for more. It’s coming:)
Hi, I saw your post about sprouts for spring | Butter Beans, thank you.
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You’re welcome – I wish you success in sprouting!