Mixed Bean Sprouts
Mixed Bean Sprouts are an effortless and a budget-friendly method to boost up your diet with antioxidants, anti-inflammatory properties, plant-protein and super-greens to brighten up any meal from sandwiches to stews.
Ingredients
1 tbsp dry green lentils
1 tbsp dry green peas
1 1/2 tbsp dry chickpeas
Lots of fresh spring water
Directions
Sort the grains to remove any stones or rotten seeds, add them to a clean glass jar, and rinse with spring water a few times to clean them.
Add about 300ml of springwater to the jar with cleaned grains and let them soak overnight or 8 - 12 hours.
After the soaking period, the grains would have doubled in size, drain out the water and rinse the grains once more.
Place a piece muslin cloth over the mouth of the glass jar and secure with a rubber band.
Place the secured glass jar over a wire rack or a ramequin at angle to drain out any excess water.
Cover with a cloth to keep away from light while allowing room for air circulation.
On the next day, observe the seeds to see if they have started sprouting and make such no mold is growing.
Then fill the jar with fresh spring water, swirl the filled jar to clean the seeds, drain and return to the draining station. Repeat this step 2 to 3 times a day depending on environmental temperatures (if the surface on which the excess water is drained on from the jar is slimy, wash it and reuse.
Continue Step 7 for anywhere between 3 to 7 days depending on how long you want the sprouts to grow and your preferred taste of the sprouts. The longer they grow the more complex they taste. Green pea sprouts tend to be more fibrous with increase in growth especially after the first 2 leaves form - the best time to “harvest” them is at about day 3 or 4. Green lentils are chickpeas will be just fine and all three of them would have grown a root and shoot system and if the first 2 leaves are visible, they would be yellow and at this point, the “shell” of the grain would starting falling off of the sprout.
Once they have grown to preferred length, empty the sprouts in a large bowl with clean water and scoop out the floating “shells” of the sprouts. Repeat this step about 2 to 3 times until the sprouts are clean. Drain in a sieve or fine mesh colander to air dry.
If the sprouts have their first leaves, fill free to let them air dry on a counter or table to expose them to the natural light for about a few hours so the leaves turn from yellow to green to activate the presence of chlorophyll in the leaves. If they are drying out, spray them with fresh spring water to keep them perky and fresh. Keep sprouts away from direct light so the sprouts don’t dry out.
Store in the fridge and use within 4 to 5 days. Or line a clean storage container with paper towel, place the well drained sprouts in it and top with another paper towel. Seal the storage container with its lid and keep refrigerated. The second storage method helps to keep the sprouts fresher and to maintain their crunch factor.
Use fresh sprouts in place of fresh greens for salads, burgers, as a garnish for a meal or make a juice out of them.
