The Sprouted Garden
There are several schools of thought as to where to grow your sprouts. One is that they have to be placed in the dark. This is not true, as all they require is a warm spot and to be rinsed and well drained regularly.
Different sprouters can be brought, all very worthy perhaps, but the same results can be achieved using covered bowls or containers.
There are several myths surrounding sprouting, but, in fact, they are very easy to grow. It is a great thing to get the children involved with. Growing your own sprouts really puts a different dimension into your diet. The nutritional properties of pulses, grains, seeds and nuts go through the roof once sprouted. Mother Nature is at her most potent at the start of germination.
Use small quantities each time. For example, an average cup of dry chickpeas gives enough houmus for 4-6 people and a dessertspoon of alfalfa gives a lot of sprouts. Mung bean and sunflower sprouts can be quite addictive after just 2 days of sprouting, yet still delicious when grown for up to 6-7 days.
A good trick when your sprouts are ready is to place them in the refrigerator in a bag or covered bowl. The change in temperature dramatically slows there growing, keeping them fresh for up to 4-5 days.
I hope these simple methods and photographs of "sprouts doing their magical thing" will encourage you to experiment on your own. The summer issue of The Shaman’s Kitchen features spelt and kumut grains, its origins, if they grow now and why spelt and kumut grains good for us, particularly sprouted. Followed through with pictures of these beautiful nutritious and interesting looking sprouts, giving recipes to bringing them into our diet.
Radish and broccoli seeds also come into the sprouted kitchen garden, for those that like a peppery taste and miss the hit watercress used to have; then these are the sprouts for you.
Perfect Sprouting
The 3-step method to perfect sprouting
Step one: Soaking
- Begin by choosing 2 to 3 pulses or seeds, then soaking them for 8 hours or overnight in plenty of preferably filtered water.
- Chickpeas, mung beans and sunflower seeds are a great place to start.
Step two: Rinsing and draining
- After soaking, rinse them well in a sieve under cold running water, shaking out any excess. Leave the smaller seeds i.e. alfalfa and quinoa to drain well, as the little seeds tend to hold water.
- They should be moist, not wet or lying in water. This is one of the secrets to successful sprouting.
- Return them to their containers and cover.
- Rinse each night and morning of their growing cycle.
Step three: Warm environment
- Any place warm and clean at room temperature will suffice, the Kitchen perhaps most suited.
- You can often feel the heat generated by the sprouts after a days growing.
- Once their tails have popped, germination is taking place and they are already becoming tender. It is important to taste your sprouts once this happens, to check for their optimum sweetness.
- In the winter you can give them a final rinse of warmed water to bring them back up to temperature.
SPROUT GUIDE A-Z
The A-Z of common Sprouts
alfalfa
Alfalfa
Growing time 5-10 days.
Alfalfa after 2-3 days (left) and 7-8 days (right)
Perhaps the most fun to grow, they expand incredibly once they start to sprout. From this tiniest of seed come the most incredible amount of sprouts! Do not be fooled by the size of the seeds! Just a small amount goes a long way, but they need to sprout for 4-5 days before you can eat them.
Once they get going they almost double in size each day, and because they are so small they rarely become tough.
Leave them to drain a little bit extra as water catches in the small sprouts.
chickpeas
Chickpeas
Growing time 2-3 days.
Quickest to grow particularly in summer, they are at their sweetest once their tails are about a qtr inch long but start to go tough quickly after that.
Left: Chickpeas with perfect
tails! Right:
Tails too long!
For houmus or as a base for salads, even added last minute to replace the cooked chickpeas that might usually be used in a Vegetable, coriander and chickpea casserole. Ground up and mixed with equal quantities of cooked red lentils, they make great burgers.
hemp seeds
Hemp seeds
Growing time 3-5 days.
Full of nutrition and a fragrant herb, they are the most exciting to sprout in terms of nutrition and flavour. They have to be rinsed several times a day, which is not very convenient for most people. This is because they start to ferment quickly, but are well worth persevering with.
They where used by our ancestors to start the process of fermentation in things like ale and beer.
The green leaves of the sprouts are very nutritious and a fragrant herb added to a salad.
Personally my hemp seed get soaked overnight, at this point you can
see their little tail already staring to appear, the first stages of
germination.
See Energy shakes and smoothies
kidney beans
Kidney and black-eye beans
Seem to be the only ones that are not good sprouts, but they make up
for it by being the best, in my opinion, for making a fantastic sauce.
See Stir-fry vegetables with black bean sauce
lentils
Lentils - Brown and green
Growing time 3-5 days.
As both take about the same time to sprout they can be mixed, their colours work well together in a salad.
Similar to chickpeas in that they start to go tough if left growing too long. Simply pop them in the fridge if you have too many.
Left: Brown lentils after 2
days Right:
And after 3-4 days
Left: Green lentils after 24
hours Right:
And after 3-4 days
Lentils - Puy
Growing time 3-5 days.
These lovely emerald green French lentils, are usually quite small in size, they are highly regarded and have heard them called the queen of lentils.
They have been a favourite for a long time cooked, now as with the chickpeas, more often than not, they get added freshly sprouted to a prepared sauce. For example, sprouted puy lentils with hemp cream of wild mushroom sauce served on a bed of quinoa or dressed green leaves as a lunch or buffet dish.
mung beans
Mung beans
Growing time 3-5 days.
More commonly known as bean spouts used in Chinese cookery, though so far mine do not grow to that point.
Can be eaten when their tails are quite small. They continue to stay tender for several more days of growing, before they have to be eaten or refrigerated.
quinoa
Quinoa
Growing time 3-5 days.
One of the healthiest grains and very interesting to sprout, once sprouted they turn a light purple in colour and taste as having a dressing already on them.
Sometimes a little tricky to sprout, they particularly like to be left draining for a while, like alfalfa. Just make sure you drain them well each time you rinse them, then enjoy these terrific little grains.
Not good kept, better when done in small batches and eaten fresh.
Left: Quinoa after 2-3
days Right:
With purple tinge a little later
Another variety - Red quinoa after 2-3 days
sunflower seeds
Sunflower seeds
Growing time 2-7 days.
Even after a day of sprouting sunflower seeds take on a beautiful crunch and are very moreish. After 3-4 days they have lovely peppery taste, which gets stronger as they sprout, a real mouthful of flavour. I haven’t met many people, including children that did not go back for more.
My dear friend and sprout specialist Diana, grows them until they sprout their first leaves. They taste amazing. You are then getting extra nutrition from the succulent green leaves.
When using them in your dressings, you are adding even more nutritional content. See Mayonnaise and dressings
Left: Sunflower seeds after 24
hours Right:
And after 2-4 days, with a peppery taste