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Saturday, April 17, 2010

More Sprouts

I mentioned that I’ve started growing my own sprouts. One type that I’ve been growing is Mung Bean Sprouts, which I love in a stir fry.

Growing sprouts is easy as 1-2-3.

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I ordered my sprouting kit and seeds from Vesey's, which is where I always order my seeds from. This sprouting kit has 3 layers that you can sprout seeds in; so far I’ve been sprouting broccoli, alfalfa and Mung Bean seeds.

You put your seeds in each of the layers, stack them on top of the water tray, and pour water through. They recommend that you pour water through twice a day. Within a few days you have sprouts!

Now, on to the Mung Bean sprouts which were the reason for this post. We noticed that the first batch looked different from what we usually get at the grocery store; I’m not sure if this is a question of variety but they are much more colorful.

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See how pink they look?

Even more interesting – when we stir fry them they turn a blue-ish color.

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Maybe not something that everyone would get excited about, but I thought it was pretty cool.

I was on my own last night, so this was my dinner – sprouts & orange bell pepper stir fried with tofu. Then I added soba noodles and peanut sauce which made the colors less detectable, but it tasted good!

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7 comments:

solarity said...

It must be a variety thing, because your mung bean sprouts are the same color as the ones I used to buy at the coop. (I could never find mung beans to try sprouting.) I didn't like them as much as broccoli sprouts, which the coop didn't offer, so that was what I did in my sprouting experiments, where I used an old canning jar with a piece of nylon stocking substituted for a store-bought mesh cap. Being allergic to alfalfa in a pollen-y inhalant way, I've been careful not to eat them regularly.

Decadent idea: what happens if you sprout green coffee beans? Vegetables with caffeine? Woo!

Mary Anne in Kentucky

carla said...

I actually grow sprouts too (she types pridefully sinces shes waaaay not organic)!
every since I read something about the high instance of ecoli on store bought sprouts.
TMI I realize.

the Bag Lady said...

Your bean-sprouter looks very cool! I have never tried to sprout my own, and I'm not sure why.
And your stir-fry looks amazing!

Crabby McSlacker said...

Wow, those pictures are both stunningly beautiful and slightly creepy!

I've been tempted to try broccoli sprouts since they are so darn good for you. Thanks for the how-to tips!

Charlotte said...

Love your pink sprouts!! You have just encouraged me to try some sprouts of my own!

The Merry said...

Mung Bean sprouts are about the only thing I can reliably get to sprout. And mine don't look like the store version either. Do you think maybe they spray something on theirs? Or maybe they keep them under artificial lights 24 hours a day, something like that.

Sagan said...

Cool! I've never made mung bean sprouts and I don't have a special sprouting kit, but I've sprouted lentils and chickpeas before just by soaking them in water and draining them and doing that for several days. It's really neat to see that happen over a few days! Haven't done it lately, though... I gotta do that again. I'm alwas amazed at how EASY it is.