Living, Raw Foods

When it comes to food, we are like little experimental scientists here at the UR HQ. We like nothing more than creating something from scratch and sometimes, literally watching it grow!

One of our latest experiments has been sprouting our own, well, sprouts! It’s so easy it’s almost embarrassing .. but what’s even more embarrassing is buying sprouts when you can grow your own, pretty much whilst you are sleeping.

So why eat sprouts? Well, a healthy seed, once sprouting becomes a growing, live organism – no longer dormant – it activates different metabolic systems. Sprouts, in that moment of their life cycle, have a high level of vitality. They are packed with a high quantity of living enzymes, vitamins, minerals and proteins despite their tiny stature.

As an example – a sprouted mung bean has a carbohydrate content of a melon, vitamin A of a lemon, thiamin of an avocado, riboflavin of a dry apple, niacin of a banana, and ascorbic acid of a loganberry. *

Biologically efficient than raw or cooked seeks, sprouts give you more in a lot less. And just in case you aren’t convinced, the sprouting process creates Chlorophyll which makes for healthy blood and immune function.

I bet you wish you could go back in time and eat that egg and alfalfa sprout sandwich your mother tried to force-feed you.

So then, how to get sprouting now?

•  Your sprouts need to be fresh – choose alfalfa, chickpea, lentil, adzuki, garbanzo, pumpkin, and  sunflower.        
•  Use filtered or bottled water - Sprouts are smart and won’t grow in contaminated water
•  Soak your chosen sprouts overnight in a covered bowl or jar
•  Rinse your sprouts in the morning, drain leave covered on the bench top.
•  Rinse 2-3 times (you can’t ever rinse too much!) per day
•  Watch your sprouts grow – depending on the seed and the weather (sprouts need light) they’ll be ready between 3-5 days
•  Rinse to wash, store in a clean container in the fridge and eat on salads, garnished on eggs, sprinkled in soups, sautéed with mushrooms – any which way you like.

We use a sprouting tower, but a glass jar would work well too.

Enjoy and Happy Sprouting!

Claire

* borrowed from www.living-foods.com