Sprouting

First of all, Happy St. Patrick's Day!

My mom gets me a card for every holiday and St. Patrick's Day is no exception.

 Papyrus, as always :)

 Love this lady ^

Isn't she sweet??!

I also came home from my yoga class to the smell of toasting pecans, one cookbook splayed open on the kitchen countertop and, like, five others sprawled out on the kitchen table.  As I sit typing this now my mom is making not only a special St. Patty's Day dinner but dessert.

I'm guessing that the garlic is a dinner ingredient.  I have no idea what my mom's making though.  She wanted to keep it a surprise!  

The clues!!!  And there's the Snoopy I got for my birthday!

It looks like spoiling myself with good food ain't gonna stop today!

Entirely unsuited to today's holiday, I thought I'd do a post about sprouting, specifically, about sprouting buckwheat groats and lentils.

Why those two foods?  Well, because they're virtually fail-proof.  They're cheap to buy and super, super easy.  They require neither a Mason jar nor a sprouting lid.  I sprouted both in a vintage Pyrex dish I had on hand.

Before I delve into the "how to," though, let's ask the question: why sprout?  Well, certain foods have these things called enzyme inhibitors, which our bodies have a difficult time digesting.  Sprouting them, as in a Pyrex dish, for example, simulates the process seeds undergo when planted in the ground.

Seeds planted in the ground are surrounded by dirt.  The dirt acts as a moisture barrier, which creates an environment in which they can sprout and grow, and when it does, the seed also releases these enzyme inhibitors.  It becomes a living food!

This process, as I mentioned, can be simulated.

Buckwheat groats after, like, 12 hours!  They already have little tails!

Start by placing the "seeds" [note: I say seeds for lack of a better word.  I'm referring to buckwheat groats and lentils in this particular case] in a covered container and allow them to soak in filtered water overnight.  In the morning, drain the water and rinse the seeds thoroughly.  Return the seeds to the dish, cover and continue to rinse and drain the seeds until their tails (yes, these little guys will start sprouting tails!!!) reach a desirable length.

Buckwheat groats after a day, if memory serves me correctly.  See how long their tails already are??

That's IT.

The process is the same for both the buckwheat groats and the lentils.  I let my buckwheat groats sprout for maybe a day and a half (they sprouted SUPER fast) and my lentils for maybe three days.

Lentils after two days.  I, personally, do not want their tails to get much longer so I'm going to spread them out to air dry and then refrigerate them soon to stop the sprouting process.

It's important that the groats/lentils stay moist so rinse and drain accordingly.  You can't do it too much.  Whenever I was in the kitchen I checked on my little guys and if they felt kind of dry, I rinsed and drained them.  This averaged about three times per day.

Buckwheat groats can be dehydrated and stored in a glass jar in the fridge for weeks and lentils can be stored, fresh, in the fridge for one to two weeks (I kind of made this up but I imagine it's about right...haha!).

Have fun sprouting!