Food Day Friday - Lentil Sprouts - Grow Your Own

I just finished reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. The most brief synopsis I can offer: a family of 4 living in rural Virginia decide that for one year they would only eat what they grew/raised themselves or bought that was grown/raised in their county.

It really gave me a lot to think about. The book included more than a dozen recipes the family used over the course of the year. The first recipe I came across that made me say, "I want to eat that right now," was Asian Vegetable Rolls. They used bean sprouts grown in a jar in the house. hmm. I can do that. I can grow bean sprouts. I'm a gardener after all.

so, I start SwagBucking to see what kind of beans work/taste best. alfalfa, of course. mung and lentils. score. we already had lentils in the cabinet that Husband bought to have on hand for winter soups.

Here's what you need:
glass jar (I used a quart size)
beans (I used 1/2 cup of lentils for this but also made a jar of garbanzos that are slower growers so I haven't tasted them yet)
some sort of seal to allow the jar to breath (I used craft canvas I had in my craft box, but I'm sure clean panty hose would work or you could even leave it uncovered)
water


Monday Night: I added the beans and plenty of water (use more than you think you need because the beans really absorb a lot) put the top on and let them soak overnight.

Tuesday Morning: I drained the water, refilled, swished and rinsed. I left the jar upside down for a bit to continue to drain. After a couple of hours I put the jar in the window for some sun.

Tuesday Night: I filled the jar with water, swished and drained again.

Wednesday Morning: I continued the Tuesday process and this is what my lentils looked like.

Same for Thursday and by Thursday Night they looked like this:

to me, they taste a lot like raw peanuts. which I like.

For dinner Thursday night, Husband, Daughter and I ate a salad of lentil sprouts, purple onion, cucumber, bell pepper, feta and croutons with a homemade balsamic dressing. it was pretty tasty.

I found this website with lots of sprout recipes. I haven't cooked any yet, but I'm hopeful.

next, I'll try the garbanzo bean sprouts and find some alfalfa seeds to start.

We got the pound of dried lentils at Publix for less than $2. I wonder how much the same pound of lentils once sprouted would sell for at a place like Whole Foods? more than $2, me thinks.