While the health conscious among us have always known about the goodness contained in sprouts, it’s only more recently that this preparation method has entered the collective consciousness. Offering higher levels of protein and available nutrients than their dried counterparts, sprouted legumes and grains add a healthy boost to your diet. They’re also much easier to digest once sprouted and contain lower quantities of anti-nutrients and phytic acid (which impairs mineral absorption).
Smaller sprouted legumes such as mung beans, blue peas, adzuki beans and lentils can be eaten raw or cooked, whereas larger legumes such as kidney beans or chickpeas benefit from being cooked after sprouting.
How to sprout legumes
⅓ cup-1 cup dried legumes (⅓ cup will give you about ½-⅔ cup sprouts).
Try mung beans, lentils, blue peas, chickpeas, whero peas or adzuki. Other beans can also be sprouted, too.
1 Put legume (or mixture) in a glass jar (mason or agee jars are ideal), cover with plenty of cold, filtered water, screw on a sprouting lid (or use muslin secured with rubber band) and leave on bench overnight.
2 The following day, drain the water, rinse and drain again. Place jar on its side or rest upside down in a bowl on a slight angle to allow any excess water to drain off, then place on the bench in a light spot out of direct sunlight.
3 Rinse and drain sprouts each day as per step 2. After 2-4 days your sprouts will be ready to eat.
Lentils, mung beans and blue peas sprout quickly, while other beans can take up to 4 days to sprout.
To ensure sprouts are dry enough to store, spread over a clean tea towel and leave to air dry for 2-3 hours before transferring to a glass jar/container and storing in the fridge. Sprouts will keep for up to a week in the fridge.
Photography by: Emma Galloway.
This recipe was first published in Taste magazine.
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