How to Grow Your Own Sprouts

Delicious fresh and crunchy sprouts.  They are high in phytochemicals, and have the highest conecntration of nutrients per calorie of any food.

There is more than a meter of snow outside in my backyard and I am growing fresh green food on my kitchen counter!  That’s the beauty of sprouts.

The sprout comes from a seed which has all the information and resources to grow a mature plant.  After the addition of water, it comes to life for the first time, and releases all it’s goodness into a tiny flavourful shoot of plant material.  This includes essential protein, vitamins, minerals and enzymes.

You can be sure you are getting the best nutrition by growing your sprouts at home.  It is easy and you can do it year round with minimal materials and space.

What can you sprout?  Well just about any seed, legume or grain, and even nuts.  Use special sprouting seeds for surefire results, or just dried raw seeds from the bulk section of your grocery store.  I like to use dried lentils and chickpeas.

Cheap, Easy Sprout Method

Materials you will need:

• Glass Jar
• Sprouting seeds (I used dried lentils in this example)
• Small square of cheese/muslin cloth
• Rubber band
• Pure water

Step 1.

Get a glass jar (re-use a jar of pickles, etc).  Fill it about 1/3 full with your seeds.  Pour double or triple the amount of water into it.  Secure the muslin cloth over the mouth of the jar with a rubber band.

Step 2.

Leave it until the next day.  After 12-24 hours your seeds will soak up the water and double or even triple in size (depending on the seed).  Now drain all the water by tipping it upside down (make sure the rubber band is on really tight – I double wrap mine).

Step 3.

Now leave it alone, and let the magic happen.  You will be surprise how quickly they grow (in the picture above, I have already removed 1/2 the sprouts from the jar.) Rinse the seeds every day and make sure to drain the water each time – just to keep them moist.

After even 2 days, your sprouts can be eaten.  You can tell because they form little tails.  The longer you let the tails get, the more nutritious your sprouts become! They are at the peak of nutrition content at 5-7 days of growth.

Every day, I take out a big handful, and by the next day the jar is full again.  As long as you keep rinsing, the sprouts will keep growing. 

Enjoy your sprouts in sandwiches, wraps, salads and soups!

• Lentil sprout soup recipe
  

Sesame Bars

Did you know sesame seeds can warm your body up when it’s cold?  Even after digestion both black and white sesame seeds generate heat.   It is common practice to massage the body with sesame oil in Ayurveda, especially in the winter months.

Antioxidant rich sesame seeds also boost vitamin E and produce phytic acid (to help rid the body of heavy metals).  “Sesamin” (the ingredient found in sesame oil) can inhibit the growth of cancerous tumors and lower cholesterol.

Cozy up to these sesame bars when it’s frosty outside:

· 2 cups raw walnut pieces (use as is, or grind them in a food processor with the dates until they become buttery)

· 1/4 cup mushed dates

· 1 cup raw white sesame seeds

· 1 cup dried cherries or cranberries

· 1/2 tsp sea salt or Himalayan rock salt

· 4 Tbsp raw coconut butter

Mix all ingredients by hand, press into a pan and cut, or form into balls and enjoy.

More antioxidant treats.

Antioxidants in Food

The antioxidants in foods are not constant.  Though the ORAC scores and other scientific analyses set a benchmark, the real levels of antioxidants in any given food will vary depending on a few key factors.

It’s not enough just to look at a foods “ranking” when it comes to antioxidants.  It helps to consider a few important variables that make some foods more healthful than others:

- Freshness: What do you think is better? A berry freshly picked in your backyard versus a berry picked unripe and flown in from Mexico to your grocery shelf?

- Is it live? A sprout, or something that is still growing (for instance celery with the root) is considered live.   This kind of food has a gazillion more active vitamins than most store-bought produce, which sometimes is picked days before and is exposed to oxidation.

Cooking methods such as boiling, stewing, frying or baking can destroy as much as 80% of the antioxidants.  Your best option is to eat the food raw or lightly steamed.  Another tip is to soak foods like seeds, nuts, and beans in water, which germinates them and makes them “come alive”.

- Organic or natural: Organic food is widely available in supermarkets now, but also can be a complex matter (ie: how organic is it really? what is considered USDA certified? what’s “natural”, etc?).  Bottome Line: To know your own food, you must grow your own food.  It’s not always possible (but easier than you might think!)

- Is it a Super food? Super foods are known to have high amounts of antioxidants and other important elements.  The lush and bio-diverse rainforest sure seems like the ideal spot for super foods, but in reality we don’t have to look that far.  Different super foods come from different parts of the world.  For example, maca root grows in the arid Andes mountains, mulberries grow as far north as the Tundra, olives from the Mediterranean, and goji berries can grow in just about anyone’s backyard.

- Is it from the Sea? Sea weed and sea vegetables might not be well known for their antioxidant content, but are extremely rich in vital nutrients that we can’t get from most “dry land” foods.

Apart from iron and iodine, sea plants contain trace minerals tin, zinc, boron, selenium, chromium, antimony and bismuth.  They are densely packed with full spectrum vitamins, including A, C, E and the under-consumed B12.

Learn more about Antioxidants in Foods here.