Sprouting

It's instant-gratification gardening! You don't even need light.

Here I'll explain the sprouting process, and put up photos of the sprouts I've tried.

Fenugreek
My favorite sprout so far... no hull, rapid growth, a fascinating bitter taste that combines really well with sprouted rye bread and agave nectar. But it's the least fun to eat... every once in a while there's a rock-hard unsprouted seed in there, you have to be very careful. Am working to remedy this.

Lentil (Red)
Also a fantastic sprout, this one is very hearty and satisfying, great for packing into sandwiches. It's really difficult to separate out all the hulls... which isn't a problem unless I want to store them in the fridge for a long while (the hulls are dead and will decompose, whereas the lentils just slow their growth).

Quinoa
Pronounced "keen-wah", this hull-free grain is a complete protein. I have just gotten this from Trader Joe's.
To sprout:
- can do very large amounts at once, I've been doing like 1/2 - 1 cup
- Soak: 1-4 hours soaking, stirring and rinsing until the water is clear (quinoa releases a lot of saponins that lend a soapy flavor if you're not careful)
- Put the drained seeds in a container in the fridge at least overnight, rather than into the sprouter. It's a cold-weather grain, so it'll keep sprouting in the fridge. Keeps for 2 weeks, but tastes better in week 1. If sprouted longer outside the fridge, it only keeps for a few days.
Favorite recipe:
- Just eaten raw when the sprout is very long, as a high-protein addition to salads... the quinoa tastes a lot like raw peas or wheatgrass, and is soft.
- Mixed with vanilla soy milk and eaten like cereal when the sprout is short... it has a heartier and almost bready flavor that lends itself well to breakfast. So far when I've eaten this for breakfast, it has me bouncing with energy. If I were to ever become a raw foodist, this would be the way to go!


Sunflower
This seed has a very short sprout time and the taste doesn't change much so it's still "nutty." Also got this from Trader Joe's in a large cheap bag (labeled as Raw).
To sprout:
- Soak 8-12 hours
- After soaking, rub off all the hulls and then discard them by flushing with water. (Leaving the hulls on is a bad idea because they decompose rapidly and will spoil your sprouts)
- Will only need 1-3 cycles of 8-12 hours... once root is as long as the seed, I don't like the taste as much.

Red Clover
These are a lot like alfalfa sprouts that you get in the store. Unfortunately I was distracted and didn't eat them before they went bad.

Mustard
Because mustard's a brassica, its roots will have fuzzy root hairs that look like mold... don't be alarmed! These are delicious, the aftertaste is very mustardy, I think I prefer them only about 2-3 days old. I'll try again... I accidentally sprouted them for too long, and they became strangely too fragrant so I tossed them.

Buckwheat
Major FAIL... the hulls are presenting a problem. I still have a pound of seeds, so after a few more failed attempts I may just end up planting them and making buckwheat greens for salads instead.

Almond
Almonds are "soaks" rather than sprouts, and you only do them 1-2 days. I soaked a half a cup for 24 hours (which brought them up to 1C), then put them in a blender with 4 cups of water and 1 tablespoon agave syrup, strained, and got 4 cups of raw almond milk and about 1/2 cup of almond meal to dry and use in later recipes (like pancakes or bread).

My first almond milk experiment: