Last weekend, a visit from a friend brought me something called a "sprout screen." Now I knew growing sprouts was super easy, but I'd somehow never tried it. Sprout screen in hand, however, it took all of 15 seconds to grab a mason jar, a mostly empty package of seeds (I tried broccoli first since I had them on hand), and start playing.Day 1 - Put your seeds in a mason jar and secure the screen and band. Add water and rinse the seeds a couple times, then allow the seeds to soak in a couple inches of water overnight.
Days 2-5+ - Rinse the seeds twice (morning and evening), letting the water drain out. Leave on the kitchen windowsill at an upside-down angle to let any excess moisture run out.
Enjoy watching the little seedlings grow (enjoy them more for dinner...)
Ok. It really is as easy as it sounds. I got the sprout screen on Saturday and by Wednesday, I was eating broccoli sprouts. I don't know what I was expecting - just that they'd taste like sprouts, but they tasted like broccoli. Cool!
Of course, it didn't take long for me to figure out what to do with them. I picked a beautiful head of leaf lettuce out of the garden, added some sliced cucumber, carrot, and yellow squash (farmers' market), and a little green onion and green pepper (backyard garden), then topped it with a blend of olive oil (farmer's market) and my homemade basil flavored hummus (basil from a friend's garden. Um, yeah! Sprouts are awesome!
Needless to say, I immediately picked up something new to try - lentils. We'll see how it goes. I just love new adventures...
Have you grown your own sprouts before? What kind of seeds/beans/grains did you use? Which are your favorites?
5 comments:
I've been lusting after one of those sprout screens for a while. Not a lot of sprout growing right now because we still have a fair amount of food in the garden but in a few months .. . maybe I should take the plunge.
Bob has sprouted many kinds of seeds. My favorite results were from mung beans and alfalfa. He has also done radish (his favorite)and other beans. His worst experience with with flax seed. They are sproutable but they also turn into slime. (They're mucilaginous if that's the word.) He liked the radish sprouts because they had a lot of heat to them...which was the same reason I didn't like them!
Green Bean - It's pretty cool and makes it VERY easy. It was given to me as a gift, so I don't know the cost, but I can't imagine it's too expensive. You could also probably make one using some extra window screen...
Cherry - where did you get your alfalfa seeds? I'd like to try those. I'll bet I could get Dave to eat the radish sprouts. He likes heat too.
I like to sprout quinoa, it sprouts very quickly!
Lentils, to me, have a strong taste. But I would like to eat more of them.
I buy alfalfa seeds from my local uppity natural food store, they have it in the bulk spice section.
Krista - Quinoa! Cool, I hadn't thought of that one, but know where I can find it in bulk. I'll have to look at our natural food store next time we're there for the alfalfa. I know my hubby would like that the best.
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