I love sprouting! Sprouting beans is easy, and fun, and healthy for everyone! The sprouting process of beans increases the nutritional value of beans as well as reduces its calorific value too. They also increase the digestive enzymes which facilitates digestion process in your body. So Bean sprouts are low in calories, are also a good source of B vitamins, and protein! And just one handful provides 75 percent of the daily requirement of vitamin C!
How to sprout beans?
So how do you get started? First buy some dried organic beans! Mung beans and chickpeas(garbanzo) are good to learn with! You can sprout fenugreek, lentils, soya beans, lima, maro, pinto, kidney, harlot, navy, aduki and broad beans. You can also sprout black-eyed, cowgram, pidgeon and redgram peas. Some of these may be difficult to find but are fast becoming more available.
1. First, pick through and discard any broken, moldy, discolored or disfigured seeds. They can contain harmful toxins that you would want to avoid. 2. Keep in mind that the beans will at least double in size during sprouting, so only prepare as many sprouts as you can eat in about 4 weeks.
3. Wash them and then soak them in cool filtered or spring water for 12-16 hours. I usually do this step at night. 4. After soaking, keep the seeds damp. I put them in a large sieve, and rinse them under the tap a couple of times a day. The seeds need to be kept damp and aired, but not wet.
5. On the 3rd day you should see a small tail! Now your beans are ready to be enjoyed!
6.Finish sprouting by giving your beans a final rinse and then placing them in a container in the refrigerator. Sprouts should last about 2 to 6 weeks; however, it will depend on the length of sprouting and amount of moisture on the beans when you placed them in the refrigerator. Make sure that you smell the sprouts for spoilage after 2 weeks and toss them if you are in doubt.
Now what do you do with these very yummy healthy sprouts?
You can add them to any garden salad, or sandwich!
Use them in any curry(don't cook them longer than 3 mins! Cooking destroys some of the heat-sensitive vitamin C in sprouts. To save it, steam the sprouts quickly, stir-fry them, or add them uncooked just before you serve the dish.)
Or as my kids do, grab handfuls and eat as is for a healthy snack!
Angie
