Healthy Recipes

Sprouts!
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Growing and eating sprouts on board

I have had success using wheat berries and alfalfa seed for sprouts. Bean seeds can also be sprouted but they are a little tougher and have a bit of an aftertaste.

I did a series of experiments to find an easy way to grow wheat berry sprouts and ways to eat sprouts. At first, I tried to cook the sprouts, but soon found that I enjoyed the taste of raw wheat grain sprouts about 48 hours after soaking.

Eating wheat grain sprouts is not too strange of an idea when you think about how dry cereals are a normal breakfast food to many people. Dry cereals are made of processed grains. Sprouts are also grains, but unprocessed, with the full kernal as a whole grain, and by sprouting the grain the amount of vitamins and enzymes is greatly increased over the unsprouted grain. It also tenderizes the grain to make it easier to eat and digest (my theory).

Vitamin content of sprouts

Studies show that sprouts have 3 to 5 times the vitamin content of the seed they sprouted from. And as for Vitamin C, sprouts have over 30 times the vitamin C content of the original seed. Wheat grain sprouts have a lot of vitamins and also have a good amount of protein and enzymes.

I am currently experimenting with sprouts and am eating sprouts on a daily basis as a vitamin supplement, not as a main portion of my meal. As I get used to the flavor of sprouts, I am beginning to enjoy eating them and my body seems to crave them, I think there are some good vitamins in them that my body likes. I have been sprouting about 1 Tbs dry wheat grains a day, but plan to increase this as I find new ways to eat them. I just eat them raw from the hand or as part of a salad or as a sandwich topping (lettuce replacement).

Equipment

  • 2 jars, jam or mayonnaise type, glass or plastic
  • 2 rubber bands
  • 2 squares of mesh or screening. (plastic mesh tomato bag, onion bag, etc.)
  • Place to set the jars upside down so they can drip (dish rack near sink)

How to sprout wheat grains

Get a glass or plastic jar and a mesh screen to cover it. You can use commercial sprouting screens or the mesh onion bag screen with a rubber band holding it on to the jar.

Soak the seeds for about 8 hours in water, drain. Invert the jar with screening so any water drains out. Rinse morning, noon, evening and night (every four hours or so) to keep the sprouts damp, then invert the jar to drain, and let it stand in an inverted position. Harvest about 48 hours after the soak is completed. If you use two jars and start the second batch a day after the first, and then always start a new batch after eating the first one, you can run a continuous cycle of sprout production. You can also drink the water used to soak and rinse sprouts.

Types of sprout seeds

I have had good success sprouting wheat grains and alfalfa purchased from a health food store. Other sprouts that come recommended are mung beans and lentils. I have not had much luck with bean sprouts, they have a strong flavor and go bad quickly. For some info on various types of sprouts, see Sprouting 101. I have also heard that you can buy wheat grains in bulk from a feed store that are suitable for sprouting for very little money. Since I am only using 1 Tbs a day, I don't think I need to buy 50 lbs at a time :^).

Taste and consistency of sprouts at different stages

This is a description of sprouting wheat grain sprouts:
  • Started Sunday evening at 10:30 p.m. Put 1 Tbs wheat grains in about a 1/4 cup of water, and let soak overnight.
  • Monday, 7:00 a.m., zero hour, drain and invert jar. After soaking about 8 hours, the grains are still somewhat hard and difficult to chew.
  • Monday 12:00 noon, Hour 5, rinse and invert jar. Seeds begin to show sprouts.
  • Monday 8:00 p.m., Hour 13, rinse and invert jar. Roots (sprouts) begin to separate.
  • Tuesday, 7:00 a.m., Hour 24, rinse and invert jar. Roots are up to about 1 cm. Seeds are semi-soft with a slight watermelon flavor.
  • Tuesday, 12:00 noon, Hour 29, rinse and invert jar. About the same as 7:00 a.m.
  • Tuesday, 5:00 p.m., Hour 34, rinse and invert jar. Some stems are showing, roots are about 1 cm. Seeds are softer but still a bit chewy. Not much flavor yet.
  • Tuesday, 11:00 p.m., Hour 40, rinse and invert jar. Roots are up to about 2 cm, stems about 1 cm. Seeds are slightly chewy, with a pleasant fresh flavor, a taste of watermelon.
  • Wednesday, 7:00 a.m., Hour 48, rinse and invert jar, have some sprouts for breakfast. Roots are up to about 2 cm, stems up to about 1 cm. Soft enough to eat, pleasant taste.
  • Wednesday, 12:00 noon, Hour 53, rinse and invert jar, finish remaining sprouts for lunch, add 1 Tbs wheat grains to jar, add water to soak.
  • Wednesday, 8:00 p.m., drain and invert jar, begin cycle again.

Ways of eating sprouts

Originally I thought that grain sprouts could be cooked and eaten as a meal. But after trying them, I now prefer to eat them raw and think of them more as a dietary supplement and as a salad green. They taste good together with:
  • Tortillia Chips
  • Saltine Crackers
  • As a salad green, with salad dressing
  • Peanuts
  • Mexican beans
Still experimenting.

Happy Sprouting!

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