This is time of year I start to balk at the price of fresh produce at the stores, but am sick of the veggies that are in the freezer. . . I just want something fresh, but inexpensive.
Enter the magic of sprouts!
Sprouts are an easy at home addition to your diet. There are lots of great websites like Sprout People and Primal Seeds, and they will sell you some really neat sprouting apparatus and kits like this one for $12.95, but all you really need is a mason jar with a canning ring and a piece of cheesecloth or gauze.
I spent a little over $2 for my mung beans at the bulk food store, and I probably had half again as many as are left now. (note the storage in the reused pickle jar). These are some CHEAP veggies compared to what you buy in the store, pound for pound.
1TBS of mung beans will make about 1 cup of bean sprouts. Here I placed 1TBS of beans into my mason jar and filled it with water, placing the cheesecloth and canning ring on the top. Then you just set it aside and let the beans soak for about 6-8 hours.
Next you drain the beans. I pour the water out and then leave the beans draining at an angle in the drain board. I never put mine in the dark as some places recommend and they have come out fine.
For the next week or so you just rinse and drain the beans a couple of times a day. Sprouting is fun to do with the kids, because after about the first two days they get to see the sprouts growing.
When they look big enough, you can consider them done. I let the ones in the picture above sprout for about 8 days total. The mung beans have a sort of “hull” on them that is a bit of a pain to get off. One method is to put all the sprouts into a large bowl of water and then swish them around until the hulls float and can be skimmed off. That is sort of finicky, so if I am going to be eating them cooked I just leave them on.
Completed, 1 cup of sprouts, as promised.
According to the Sprout People’s “Sprouting 101″ you can sprout just about any bean or seed that you would eat the plant of. I’ve sprouted alfalfa (which are those thin ones you see on salad bars etc) the mung beans (which are what you think of as the typical oriental sprouts) and I even tried kidney beans (kidney bean sprouts MUST BE COOKED-the raw sprouts have toxins in them). Currently I have some wheat sprouts going-I’ve never had them before, so we shall see how they taste. I’ve also heard that you can sprout radish seeds for “spicy sprouts” that taste awesome on sandwiches or salads. . .
How many of you are “sprouters”? What are some of your favorite recipes?
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
Lentil and chickpea sprouts are also really good and as a bonus, the lentils sprout quickly.
I sprout beans in my colander as well as a jar.
Check out some ‘raw’ cookbooks from the library for unusual recipes.
I sprouted wheat, not a hit with the humans in the house. Our two cats absolutely loved them. When the wheat grass got to about four inches last fall, they were planted outside where the cats continued to enjoy them.
Sprouts are great on sandwiches with or without meat and in nut salads. Have a great week. Annette
What a riot! The kids must have had fun watching them grow. I like bean sprouts in Chinese stir-fry. I should try this!
At work, I have a set of little pots that are now empty because the ‘polka dot’ plants in them have passed into the great flora beyond. I’m thinking of planting something in them, like herbs. The window is perfect–gets a huge amount of sun.
I hope that you feel better today. I get sinus headaches a lot–I live on Sudafed. I hope you get to close your eyes and rest as much as possible!
allisone-ohhh, I think I have some dried chick peas in the cabinet, I’ll have to try that! I seem to have a hard time finding lentils in the regular stores that aren’t “split”. . . The colander idea sounds interesting, but I tend to be a messy cook-I think I’d wind up getting stuff in there that wasn’t supposed to be in there. . .
Mary-oh well, I’ll try it and see. . . unfortunatly we don’t have a cat to pass it off to. Maybe we can donate to the neighbor’s cat if we dislike them.
Annettte-I like them in both sandwiches and salads myself, and they make a great filler to add to fried rice. there is a Korean bean sprout patty recipe that I saw online that sounds interesting to try some time too. . .
Mom2F-Glad to amuse
You should try it, it is easy. The biggest problem is you have to think ahead about a week “ok, I’ll start sprouting now and then I’ll cook using them in a week”.
PS-I’m feeling much better today, thanks!
Mmm, not very healthy but delicious in hot toasted cheese sandwiches – yum!
Wheat grass sprouts are really nutritious, and can be juiced – they are tastier that way, and lead to an especially refreshing treat mixed in with fresh juiced apples or the like. The insurance of good nutrition makes the work of sprouting worthwhile, definitely.
Jerry
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Wow, thanks! My husband asked me about sprouting yesterday, and I only knew a little bit and thought that it would be more difficult that you described – I’m bookmarking this!
ohh, sprouts and cheese sounds yummy!
I tried the wheat and liked them as a snack-I’m not sure I’d do them all the time though. Right now I’ve got chinese cabbage and radish going together in my jar. That should be yummy on sandwiches and salads.
Jenni-glad that this is helpful for you. Pictures always seem to help, don’t they?