Spirulina Sprout Salad

Spirulina is pretty important for vegans. It is one of the only non-flesh source of vitamin B-12, a vitamin that is essential to the human body and if you become deficient side effects include irreversible nerve damage. Serious issue.


More nutritional info can be found here.


Easy way to get all that goodness into your cells? Salad dressing, duh! I found this video and followed his lead. Best part is that it makes your lips/teeth/face green...



Ingredients:
sprouts
1 carrot, grated
1/2 red pepper, julienned
1 green onion, chopped
1 c sauerkraut

juice of 1 lemon
1/4 c olive oil
1 t curry powder
1 T spirulina
pinch of salt

Directions:
Mix mix mix!

Inspired.

I would call myself an experienced sprouter. Yet Honest Fare blew my socks off in her post on lentil sprouts today.

I had never thought to let them keep growing until they actually grow little leaves! My mind is blown.

And now I'm going to go soak some lentils to try to recreate these little green beauties... Check back in a few days!

Sprouted Lentils

You've seen bean sprouts in your stir fry and sunflower sprouts in your salad, but most people don't realize that just about every grain, bean, and seed sprouts.

Sprouting essentially takes a dormant seed and creates a live plant. Sprouting neutralizes phytic acid and enzyme inhibitors. Phytic acid binds with calcium, magnesium, iron, copper, and zinc, making it hard to impossible for you to absorb those nutrients. Enzyme inhibitors inhibit enzymes (surprise surprise) in the seed and your own digestive enzymes from doing their job.


All in all, sprouting makes grains, seeds, and legumes (beans) easier to digest and you will be able to assimilate more nutrients.


More reasons sprouting rocks here!


How To Sprout:
The method is pretty much the same for most seeds, grains, nuts, and legumes, it’s just the time that varies. 

1. Fill a mason jar about one third full of desired seed to sprout, and then fill the mason jar with water and soak overnight.
2. Cover the mason jar with a sprouting screen screwed into the lid. You can use any sort of material that allows water out but keeps the sprouts in (make-shift one out of a screen?).
3. In the morning you drain the jar and rinse it right through the screen, and then you invert your jar at an angle, allowing it to drain and air to circulate within your jar.
4. All you have to do now is rinse 2-3 times per day, and your seeds will turn into sprouts!

I take this process to a whole new level of easiness (laziness...) and I get sprouts every time so I think it's an A-OK method:

Marcy creeping on my lentil sprouts

1. Fill a container (mason jar, tupperware container, wine glass...) about 1/3 of the way full with desired grain, legume, or seed and fill up with water.
2. Soak overnight.
3. In the morning, pour out water while holding the goods in the container with your hand.
4. Pour more water in, swish around and dump water out again.
5. Repeat step 4 2-3 times per day to keep the goods damp and prevent mold from growing.

Once sprouting process is complete (see the chart below), dump the sprouts onto a paper towel and allow them to dry before storing them in the fridge.

Nuts do not grow tails but it's important to soak (or roast) raw nuts to get rid of the enzyme inhibitors.

Soaking and Sprouting Times

(From Raw Food Living)

Nut / Seed	Dry Amount	Soak Time	Sprout Time	Sprout Length	Yield
Alfalfa Seed	3 Tbsp	12 Hours	3-5 Days	1-2 Inches	4 cups
Almonds	3 Cups	8-12 Hours	1-3 Days	1/8 Inch	4 Cups
Amaranth	1 Cup	3-5 Hours	2-3 Days	1/4 Inch	3 Cups
Barley, Hulless	1 Cup	6 Hours	12-24 Hours	1/4 Inch	2 Cups
Broccoli Seed	2 Tbsp	8 Hours	3-4 Days	1-2 Inches	2 Cups
Buckwheat, Hulled	1 Cup	6 Hours	1-2 Days	1/8-1/2 Inch	2 Cups
Cabbage Seed	1 Tbsp	4-6 Hours	4-5 Days	1-2 Inches	1 1/2 Cups
Cashews	3 Cups	2-3 Hours			4 Cups
Clover	3 Tbsp	5 Hours	4-6 Days	1-2 Inches	4 Cups
Fenugreek	4 Tbsp	6 Hours	2-5 Days	1-2 Inches	3 Cups
Flax Seeds	1 Cup	6 Hours			2 Cups
Garbanzo Beans (Chick Pea)	1 Cup	12-48 Hours	2-4 Days	1/2-1 Inch	4 Cups
Kale Seed	4 Tbsp	4-6 Hours	4-6 Days	3/4-1 Inch	3-4 Cups
Lentil	3/4 Cup	8 Hours	2-3 Days	1/2-1 Inch	4 Cups
Millet	1 Cup	5 Hours	12 Hours	1/16 Inch	3 Cups
Mung Beans	1/3 Cup	8 Hours	4-5 Days	1/4-3 Inches	4 Cups
Mustard Seed	3 Tbsp	5 Hours	3-5 Days	1/2-1 1/2 Inches	3 Cups
Oats, Hulled	1 Cup	8 Hours	1-2 Days	1/8 Inch	1 Cup
Onion Seed	1 Tbsp	4-6 Hours	4-5 Days	1-2 Inches	1 1/2-2 Cups
Pea	1 Cup	8 Hours	2-3 Days	1/2-1 Inch	3 Cups
Pinto Bean	1 Cup	12 Hours	3-4 Days	1/2-1 Inch	3-4 Cups
Pumpkin	1 Cup	6 Hours	1-2 Days	1/8 Inch	2 Cups
Quinoa	1 Cup	3-4 Hours	2-3 Days	1/2 Inch	3 Cups
Radish	3 Tbsp	6 Hours	3-5 Days	3/4-2 Inches	4 Cups
Rye	1 Cup	6-8 Hours	2-3 Days	1/2-3/4 Inch	3 Cups
Sesame Seed, Hulled	1 Cup	8 Hours			1 1/2 Cups
Sesame Seed, Unhulled	1 Cup	4-6 Hours	1-2 Days	1/8 Inch	1 Cup
Spelt	1 Cup	6 Hours	1-2 Days	1/4 Inch	3 Cups
Sunflower, Hulled	1 Cup	6-8 Hours	1 Day	1/4-1/2 Inch	2 Cups
Teff	1 Cup	3-4 Hours	1-2 Days	1/8 Inch	3 Cups
Walnuts	3 Cups	4 Hours			4 Cups
Wheat	1 Cup	8-10 Hours	2-3 Days	1/4-3/4 Inch	3 Cups
Wild Rice	1 Cup	12 Hours	2-3 Days	Rice Splits	3 Cups

Curried Lentil Sprouts with Cilantro-Garlic Sauce

Based off of recipe by The Nourishing Gourmet. I personally don't like cilantro so I wasn't too keen on the sauce but luckily the curried lentil sprouts taste awesome on their own.

Ingredients:

-for lentils-

3 c lentil sprouts

1 small onion, chopped

3 cloves of garlic, minced

2 T olive oil

1 T curry powder

0.5 t ground cloves

-for sauce-

1 bunch of fresh cilantro

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 inch of fresh ginger, peeled and chopped

2 T olive oil

1 small hot pepper, seeds removed

1 t salt

Juice from 1/2 of a lemon*

Directions:

Mix lentil ingredients together in a bowl.

Food process sauce ingredients until smooth pesto-like consistancy.

*I omitted the lemon juice because there aren't any lemons growing in Michigan (I miss them already...)