Sprouting - French Lentils

½-¾c French lentils

pure filtered water
time = 3-4 days

Orange & Yellow = Soup--Not Sprouts

I LOVE SPROUTING!!

Why Sprout you ask??  Check this out —> sprout

If I had to pick only one thing to sprout for the rest of my life. . .it would be LENTILS!  Hands down!  No contest!

The subtle, peppery flavor and crunch of these great little legumes is so nice!  The fancy, blue-grey-green, smaller, French lentils I found at the Co-Op are wonderful, but the green or brown ones available in any grocery store in the dried pea and bean section, are also just perfect.

Pick through the lentils to be sure there are no small stones mixed in, rinse them, then soak them 24 hours in warm filtered water.  Drain and rinse, then repeat this for the next couple days until they're sprouted as shown.  Don't be put off by the paper-y coverings of each one, these just add some nice fiber to your diet.  

Today I woke up in a bit of a sugar haze.  You see, I ordered some Tuscan Herb olive oil and Traditional 18 year old Balsamic Vinegar from a favorite gourmet shop I know. . .and at the last minute decided on a pound of their fudge which I have heard is the best.  Well, all this arrived Saturday, and the fudge. . .it is really good!  I had a few pieces of that and, since my body doesn't handle sugar as well now, as it did years ago, I decided to counteract the bad effects this morning, with some good quality protein, vitamins, and cleansing-freshness for breakfast.  This little bowl (hard-boiled eggs, sprouts and black beans topped with some spicy, Thai chili mayonnaise, was just the thing! :-)  Lentil sprouts are ready 3-4 days from start to finish.  Try them, you'll love 'em on everything!! . . . Lin

Salad Season

In my house, Salad Season is all year long, just like Soup Season.  This was my great find today, while at our local organic grocery store - this awesome sprouting jar!  A half gallon jar, which is probably overkill since I live alone, but I'm pretty sure that whatever I sprout, I'll eat before they get funky.

I bought 4 seeds for sprouting, my favorite, green lentils - which have a really nice peppery flavor, mung beans, radish and broccoli seeds.  All organic.

Today I'm only using the lentils and mung beans (in the bags) - one part, consisting of a mix of those two, into the jar, followed by three parts warm water.  Always stick with similar sizes, or you'll have some big ones that are rock hard mixed in with little ones that are perfectly sprouted.  The smaller they are, the faster they sprout.

I hope you try these on whole grain bread sandwiches and salads for a great, spring-fresh flavor, vitamins and lots of protein. . .Lin