Sprouts--Nutrition Powerhouses

From the NC Advertiser (CT).

"It happens to me all the time. I go to the supermarket and ponder over purchasing a package of sprouts. They are supposed to be packed with nutrition, but who knows how long they’ve been sitting around losing their precious nutrients to the glamour of the supermarket shelves. Then I inevitably mentally slap myself and say “Just make your own!” And you know, I’m right.

Making sprouts at home requires a minimal input of time and money and results in maximum output of nutritional value.

Sprouts embody peak vitality in the life cycle of plants, which makes perfect sense if you think about it. The seed is getting ready to burst into a full grown plant, so it needs all the nutrients it can gather.

During the sprouting process, macronutrients are broken down into their most basic form. Complex carbohydrates are predigested into simple sugars, fats into free fatty acids, and protein into amino acids. Not to mention the presence of concentrated amounts of micronutrients: vitamins, minerals, enzymes and antioxidants. All these health promoting, disease fighting, does-a-body-goodies are in their most bio-available form. That means they are quickly and easily absorbed by our bodies. Talk about instant nourishment!

As a nutrition powerhouse, sprouts help protect against cancer and heart disease, improve digestion, reduce inflammation, detoxify and cleanse the body, flush toxins from the system, support the immune system, and protect against cell mutations.

Have I sprouted your interest yet? My son and I have tried sprouting at home before. It’s remarkably easy and a fun little family project. All you need are seeds (popular choices are alfalfa seeds, red clover seeds, radish seeds, mustard seeds, lentils, fenugreek, mung beans, wheat berries, aduki beans, garbanzo beans, and sunflower seeds), cheesecloth, a rubber band, a wide-mouthed one-quart jar, and water.

Here’s what you do:

1. Place one-quarter cup seeds and about two cups of water in your jar. Cover the mouth of the jar with cheesecloth and secure with a rubber band. Let the seeds soak overnight.

2. The next day, tip the jar upside down and drain the water out through the cheesecloth. Rinse the seeds with fresh water, then drain again.

3. Prop the jar at an angle, with a towel under the mouth to absorb any excess water that drains out.

4. Store the jar in a warm, dry, dark place.

5. Repeat the rinse-and-drain process twice daily. Your sprouts should be ready after three to five days. They are best when the sprout — or tail — is approximately one and-a-half times the size of the seed itself.

Your fresh sprouts will keep for up to a week if stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container.

As one of most nutritionally complete foods, sprouts are a simple addition to any diet. They add great crunch to spreads, salads or sandwiches, and can even be tossed into soups and stir-fries at the last minute. And as an added bonus, the kids will get a kick out of watching the sprouts grow, and will even like munching on them (hopefully)!"

You don't even need a jar--I once sprouted collards in a glass baking pan. Sprouts are one big way to improve nutrition for just a little money, and give you access to leafy greens, beans, and other foods you normally couldn't afford in their mature form at the grocery store.

Another method is foraging--miner's lettuce and dandelion leaves make great nutritious salad additions, and don't cost you a dime!