Sprouting Mung Beans

I like to sprout!  

I have had delicious success with Alfalfa seeds.  So I thought it was time to branch out and give another variety of sprouts a try.  Enter organic Mung beans.  So I purchased some and gave it my best.  How did it go??

My Mung beans grew like weeds!  Even when I failed to water them as frequently as I should have, they still turned out amazing--crisp and juicy!  With their mild flavor, I can see why they would make an ideal snack, a lively addition to salads, or a perfect choice in any Asian dish.  Plus, these sprouts were giants compared to the Alfalfa shoots!  But of course, the Mung beans were much larger than the Alfalfa seeds to begin with, so it makes sense.  Most importantly they were refreshing and healthy!  You can order exactly what I purchased at this Handy Pantry Distributors link, as well as read a brief summary of Mung bean nutrition.  It's rather impressive actually! 

 I did miss my "day five" photograph.  Boo.  So if you notice a huge difference between my sprout's growth in a couple of the pics, you'll know why.


I really do hope you give sprouting a try!  If you want lots of how-to details, check out my "I Can Sprout!" blog post, where I chronicle my experience with Alfalfa seeds.  Simply treat the Mung beans with the same kind of care.  The only difference I noticed was that the Mung growing cycle seems to be about 48 hours less than the Alfalfa; I'm not certain to what length these sprouts are supposed to get, but I think I gave my batch a day too many.  Also, be sure not to over fill your jar with beans initially--they need room to grow!  One to two tablespoons will do the trick.

Just remember, sprouting is much easier than it appears to be, so take heart!  I know you can do it!

 Day Two- Mung emergence!

Day Three- Just look at those cute little tails!

  

Day Four- The Mung sprouts are casting off their hulls!

Day Five (No Photo)- 

I remember the jar was three-quarters full. They were probably ready to eat on this day, but for what ever reason, I neglected them. How sad.

Day Six- Jam packed! These babies are just begging to be released from captivity!

Now it's your turn to grow a batch of sprouts!  I wish you the very best of luck!

Happy Vegan Valentine's Dinner!

It was a very enjoyable Valentine's Day!  Jordan and I didn't have the funds available to go out to a restaurant or fundraiser this year.  But we more than made up for any imagined loss. 

Before stuffing our bellies we went on a four mile walk together.  It was such a nice day; it seemed a pity to spend all of it being indoors!  And I must say, it was a good thing we did burn a few extra calories, because we ate far too much later on!  :)

It took us hours to get our holiday dinner on the table; we went all out, tonight!  But it finally came together beautifully... 

I prepared an organic tossed salad of red leaf, red kale, and baby spinach, and all the organic trimmings: tomatoes, avocados, red cabbage, cucumber, carrots.  Oh and I can't forget the dressing of equal parts organic flaxseed oil and fresh-squeezed lemon juice, with a dash of Bragg's Liquid Aminos.  It was a dense salad, yet so sweet, flavorful, and refreshing! 

Days before, we concluded that a whole-wheat spaghetti dish would be dinner's main course.  But what kind of sauce would we choose? While cruising the blogosphere many weeks earlier, I chanced upon a tantalizing Alfredo recipe, courtesy of Matt at "My Veggie Kitchen".  And tonight seemed like the perfect setting for Pasta Alfredo!  The only problem was I'd never made this before!  We decided to give it a try anyway.  I quickly pulled up the recipe for easy reference.  It was then I belatedly realized that we didn't have half of the listed ingredients.  Oh well.  We forged ahead without them, forced to make some adjustments on the journey.  Matt's recipe called for cashews, but all we had was walnuts or hazelnuts.  We picked walnuts.  We didn't have shallots, but we an ordinary onion, which we utilized.  We didn't have unsweetened soymilk, but we did have the "original" variety, so we used that.  Lastly, we didn't have the wine.  We didn't sub anything for that.  After all our changes to the actual recipe, it's doubtful that our version tasted anything like Matt's!  But we still liked it!  We did note that it was missing something in it's flavor and texture.  But it WAS missing something--a lot of somethings!  :)  Yet it was warm, creamy, and fun to eat; a buttery, saucy dish, completely out of the ordinary for us! 

We hardly ever bake breadsticks.  But tonight was special so we did!  We followed my sister, Marcy's recipe.  It was fun!  We took turns kneading the dough, and stood at the counter together rolling it into traditional snakelike shapes.  But then I had a brilliant idea...  Bend the breadsticks into hearts!  I pinched them in just the right places and Voila! Breadstick Hearts!  They looked so cute!  Unfortunately, that's about as great as they got.  The recipe originally called for white flour and we used all whole-wheat.  And since we don't bake bread very often, we have little understanding of the repercussions of swapping one flour for another.  In hindsight, we probably should have added more liquid to the dough and slightly shortened the cooking time.  Maybe the yeast never activated.  Still, I'm still not sure that any of these ideas would have been the correct solutions.  Sadly, the end result turned out to be quite heavy instead of light and fluffy; they never really did rise properly.  And they were much drier than we'd have liked.  But we managed to enjoy them.  I remarked to Jordan that they would have made far better pretzels than breadsticks!  At least they looked appealing!  :)

We also added "Wagon Wheels" to the fare!  Jordan peeled and cut the carrots, and set them on the stove to cook.  They almost met a sorry demise, as we did not add adequate water to steam them for the allotted ten minutes; the "wheels" started scalding to the sides of the pan!  Luckily, Jordan smelled smoke and we managed to rescue them before the whole pot of carrots turned black!  Gratefully they still tasted yummy, even after that extra dash of drama! 

To top everything off, with no help from me, Jordan whipped up his specialty dessert, "Jordan's Chocolate Cake"!  Yummy!  He actually baked the cake before our walk.  He frosted it after we got back.  He works so efficiently!  (Unlike me!) 

After working in the kitchen for nearly three hours, the meal was at last ready!  I took pictures, Jordan lit candles, we said a prayer, and then finally,

...we stuffed ourselves silly!  

It was a long time coming, but it was worth it!  Good food and good company!  What more could we ask for?! 

I was so happy to be spending the evening with my very own Valentine!  Jordan always works on Sunday night, so it was extra special of him to take work off to be home with me!  And even though he didn't buy me a sparkly Hallmark card or boxes of chocolates or even flowers, none of that was what I really wanted--just him.  His presence made the very best present!  With Jordan by my side, walking and talking, cooking and eating, my evening was complete! Thank you, My Goo! I love you! 

I hope your holiday, at home or abroad, was just as grand, or more so, than ours! 

 Happy Vegan Valentine's Dinner! 

I Can Sprout!

One of my New Year's resolutions was to learn how to grow sprouts.  I honestly didn't know if I'd be able to do it.  It seemed like it would be so difficult.  But to my surprise, it wasn't.  In fact, it was EASY!  I couldn't believe how easy it was!  I have had great success with simple organic alfalfa seeds!  And I have enjoyed eating the "fruits of my labors" on all sorts of things: salads, sandwiches, tacos, and even all by themselves!  They are a perfect raw food, full of life and high nutrition.  And they taste so refreshing!  Plus, it's far more economical to grow your own than to purchase them at the market!  I hope maybe you'll be inspired by my small measure of achievement and give sprouting a try yourself!  I'll share with you all the tips I used to make my little dream a reality.  Don't be scared!  I can sprout and so can you!  Let's get started!  

My instructions are taken from a photocopy of excerpts from the booklet, "Sprouting For Health in the New Millennium" by Handy Pantry Distributors.  Feel free to follow the links for more information or to order products and seeds.  For clarity, I will put any personal thoughts into parentheses.  And of course, all the photos are my own. 

The Six Rules of Sprouting:

Rinse Often.

Keep them moist, not wet. 

Keep them at room temperature.

Give them plenty of room to breathe.

Don't put too many in any one container.

Keep them covered--no light. 

How To Grow Sprouts -- The Jar Method:

Good sprouting technique doesn't take a "green thumb", just paying attention to four factors: the right amount of moisture, the correct temperature, the free circulation of air, and minimal light.  By rinsing them a couple of times daily, you keep them moist.  You also wash away carbon dioxide and other metabolic wastes that could cause souring or spoiling.  Using cool water when rinsing ventilates and cools the sprouts to prevent overheating.  Proper draining prevents excessive moisture that can cause mold and rot.  The ideal sprouting temperature depends on the seed, but generally lies between 70 and 85 degrees.  To protect the tiny growing things, keep sprouting containers away from cold drafts, direct heat, or any light.  For free air circulation, at least one-third of the container must be empty.  Sprouts expand 6 to 10 times over a few days, so give them plenty of room to grow.  Sprouts are very light sensitive and need to be covered during the early stages of the growing cycle. (Distilled water is the best choice for all soaking and rinsing.  Use it if you can.  The entire cycle will probably take five or six days, from soak to harvest.)

The Seed's Packaging

Step One: Soaking
For a quart-sized (glass canning) jar, start with 1 1/2 tablespoons seeds inside the jar, screw on the fine mesh lid (or just an old nylon stocking and rubber band.  Even having no cover can work! More on that later...) and partially fill the jar with warm water, not hot.  Swirl it around to clean the seeds, then pour out.  Refill with warm water to cover at about 3 times their depth and let soak overnight, away from light.  (I put my jar in the pantry.)

Day 2

Step Two: Draining and Starting
Pour off the soak water.  Find a location that is not exposed to direct sunlight.  Place drained jar propped at an angle (about 45 degrees) to allow any extra water to drain out.  (The mouth of the jar should face down.)  Turn the jar to spread out the seeds.  (The seeds will stick to the jar when they are wet.)  Cover the jar with a dishtowel and leave for 3 to 4 hours. (I often use the dishdrainer on my countertop to prop the jar at the recommend angle, or else a small rolled up towel under the jar's bottom end.  Sometimes I put another washcloth under the lip of the jar to catch the excess moisture that drips out.  Don't forget to cover.)

Day 3

Step Three: Rinsing
Rinse sprouts with cool, fresh water 2 or 3 times each day until they are ready to eat or refrigerate.  (I thought this step would keep me babysitting my sprouts all day long; a very annoying proposition.  Then I realized I usually eat something with about the same frequency.  Now I just make sure that before I sit down to any meal, I first water my sprouts!  Easy peasy!)  When they begin to throw off the seed hulls, let the jar over flow with water and the hulls will float out the top through the screen.  Turn the jar to spread out the seeds each time you rinse.  (Here's a cool tip:  You don't really need a cover for your jar and this is why.  Just fill a clean spray bottle with distilled water and give your sprouts a bunch of gentle squirts, instead of dousing them from the faucet and then having to drain off all that excess water without losing your seedlings down the drain.  You won't need the mesh cover at all, as long as you have a spray bottle on hand.  Also, keep your sprayer in the fridge and you'll always have cool water ready for rinsing!)

Day 4

Step Four: Harvesting
Pour the sprouts into a pan or sink of clean water.  Skim off any remaining hulls that float to the surface.  Other hulls will fall to the bottom of the container.  (All hulls are discarded.)  Pull out the sprouts, gently shake off excess moisture and drain in a colander.  (Rinse the sprouts very well; spend a few minutes doing it.  They will last longer if you do.)

Day 5

Step Five: Greening
Clean the jar and lid.  Place sprouts for greening back into the jar.  Place in indirect sunlight.  Near a kitchen window is fine.  After the sprouts have greened with chlorophyll and carotene's for a day or so, rinse, drain, and eat or refrigerate.

Day 6

Step Six: Refrigerating
Sprouts will stay fresh and hearty for a week or more when refrigerated, if you rinse them every day or two.  You can even give the green sprouts an extra hour of sunlight after rinsing to keep them at their nutritional peak.  Caution: Since sprouts are frost sensitive, don't place sprouts near the freezer compartment. 

Congratulations!  Now enjoy your living harvest!

Dinosaur Salad

Occasionally, I eat healthy!  :)  So I thought for a fun change of pace, I'd post about something fresh and wholesome.  I present you with Dinosaur Salad!  I call it this because it features some produce I don't think many people know about or else fail to utilize very often: Lacinato Kale (or Dinosaur Kale, as it is playfully called).  This unusual vegetable appears to be a close relative of wild cabbage, and is also related to broccoli, cauliflower, collard greens, and brussels sprouts.  The leaves are dense and have a strong flavor, like that of cabbage or broccoli.  But Dino Kale sports more of all the good stuff, like vitamins, antioxidants, fiber, etc, than other members of it's Brassica oleracea family.  Well, it looked mighty charming at the grocery store one evening, and I'd heard good things about it, so I purchased some.  Even though I think most people probably cook the life out of the poor plant before they eat it, I decided to enjoy mine raw, in a salad.  I don't have exact amounts for this recipe, mostly just a list of ingredients.  But that's the beauty of green salads; they're a work of art--different every time!

Dinosaur Salad

Organic Ingredients:

Vegetables:
dino kale leaves, remove stems and chop
red leaf lettuce, remove stems and chop
carrots, shredded
red cabbage, chopped
sweet onion, diced
avocado, sliced
tomato, sliced

Dressing:
a squeeze of flaxseed oil
a squeeze of fresh lemon
a dash of sea salt
a dash of pepper

If you make a huge bowlful, be sure to add the dressing to your individual serving only.  Plus, what you don't eat makes a healthy leftover to store in your fridge; you CAN get great nutrition while indulging those uncontrollable munching urges!  How's that for a change?!    

Be brave--try something new!  Enjoy!