Grow Your Own - Sprouts!

Few people realize the health benefits of sprouting seeds, beans, seeds, and grains. Sprouting makes the seeds more digestible. When a seed meets water and germinates, it begins to release stored nutrients that are needed to grow a young plant, like vitamins C, E, Bs and K, precious protein and important minerals are manufactured. They enhance the dietary fiber that all seeds, legumes and whole grains provide. And all of this for less than 10 calories per cup! Sprouts pack a nutrient bang for the calorie buck. And you can keep a family in spouts for pennies a day. Everybody should be sprouting.

How to make sprouts

We’ve all seen alfalfa sprouts in the cellophane containers in the produce aisle and canned bean sprouts in the Asian section. (Drain canned sprouts and rinse under running water.) But there is no need to buy sprouts because they are so easy to grow. All you need is the seeds or beans, a jar, cheese cloth, and a warm dark moist environment. Children enjoy making sprouts too.

• Sterilize a Mason jar, the kind used in canning, and buy some cheese cloth in the grocery store.
• Buy dry seeds or beans made for sprouting. (Sprouts for planting may have been treated with chemicals.) You don’t need to buy a lot.
• Cover the seeds or beans with water and soak them overnight. Mix 2-3 parts water to 1 part seed.
• Next day, drain off the water, rinse the seeds thoroughly, and then place them in the Mason jar. Use the cheesecloth of the inner lid, and screw on the ring to keep the cheesecloth in place. Set the container on its side in a dark warm place
• like a cupboard or cover it with a towel. But don’t close the cupboard door to leave room for air circulation. Sprouts need to breathe while growing.
• Rinse the seeds with lukewarm water twice a day for 3 or 4 days. Strain the seeds very well because wet seeds rot, and return the jar to its dark location.
• When the sprouts are 1½ to 2 inches long, expose them to sunlight for a day to let the leaves turn green. Let sprouts sit for 8 to12 hours after their final rinse.
• Serve them immediately or refrigerate sprouts. Before refrigerating, sprouts should be dry to the touch. A salad spinner may be used to dry them. You can transfer sprouts to a plastic bag or use a special produce bag or, if you have one, use your sprouter for storage and to keep them air-tight. Your home grown sprouts can easily keep for a week depending on your holding method.

How to eat sprouts

Add sprouts to sandwiches, salads, stir fries, soups, casseroles, and in baking. In cooking, add delicate sprouts like alfalfa and millet, at the very end of the cooking. Big sprouts from hard-shelled beans such as soy are cooked by streaming for ten minutes.

A word of caution

According to Jane Brody’s Good Food Book, “Sprouts should be eaten in moderation because they may contain natural substances that are toxic when eaten in excess. Alfalfa sprouts, in particular, may be hazardous when overeaten….Although the amounts of alfalfa sprouts people might ordinarily consume should not be harmful.” In addition, alfalfa sprouts commercially manufactured and marketed have been associated with outbreaks of Salmonella. Commercial sprouts must be well washed before eating.