How to Grow Bean and Alfalfa Sprouts
Although there are elaborate setups on the market for growing sprouts, chances are everything you need is already in your kitchen. All edible seeds can be sprouted but the most popular are mung bean, lentils and alfalfa sprouts. Within days of starting the process, sprouts are ready for eating. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Sprouting seeds
- 1 quart wide-mouth glass jar
- 1 or 2 squares of cheesecloth or muslin
- Rubber band
- Measuring cups and spoons
Instructions
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1
Purchase sprouting seeds at your local health food store. These seeds are intended for sprouting purposes and have not been treated with the insecticides or other chemicals that can be found in regular garden seeds.
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2
Wash and thoroughly rinse a wide mouthed, quart sized glass jar. You can use a jar with a regular sized mouth, but it will be more difficult to remove the sprouts from the jar.
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3
Measure approximately 1/4 cup of mung beans or lentils into the jar. If you are sprouting alfalfa, use only 1 tbsp. of these seeds.
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4
Fill the jar half full of clear water. You can use filtered water but this is not necessary.
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5
Cut a square of cheesecloth that will cover the mouth of the jar and drape down the sides. If you are sprouting alfalfa, you may need two squares so the seeds do not slip through the cloth when rinsing.
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6
Cover the mouth of the jar with the cheesecloth and secure it in place with a rubber band.
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7
Allow the jar to sit undisturbed on the counter overnight or for at least 12 hours.
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8
Tip the jar sideways and strain the soaking water into the kitchen sink.
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9
Hold the jar upright and fill the jar, through the cheesecloth, half full of water a second time. Swirl the seeds around in the jar and strain off the water.
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10
Repeat the rinsing and straining twice daily until the sprouts fill the jar. This can take four to seven days depending on the variety of the seed.
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Tips & Warnings
You can buy straining lids for sprouting jars at the health food store. These usually come in sets of three or four, with each lid having different sized screens for different types of sprouting seed.
Sprouts can be used on sandwiches, in soups, salads and stews and also in stir-fry or other dishes.
References
- Photo Credit super sprouts! image by Shirley Hirst from Fotolia.com
