Winter Green

[Pam Genant]

Winter seems like a time when everything green from my garden is coming out of my freezer.  We do have some collard greens in the garden and they lasted well into December.  But now everything is frozen and snow covered.  So this is when I get out my sprouts.  I enjoy sprouts in salads, in stir fries, and I want to try bread for the boys using some sprouts.  It is a treat, so I save my sprouting for winter.  Here is a picture of some of my mung bean sprouts.  I love mung bean sprouts as they are crisp, and sprout in only a couple of days.

 

You can see the lid I use on the canning jar, it has mesh in the top, I picked it up some place for like $1.  But I recently saw a picture where someone used some of the plastic canvas you can get at walmart in the craft section, it was cut to size to fit into the round canning jar lid (minus the lid insert).  You could get many jars for $1 that way, so I am eager to try that out and sprout a few things at the same time. 

They are just so nice and green, and crispy and I even have a few left sitting in my fridge.  In the jar right now are some alfalfa seeds, sprouting, those take a bit longer. 

To sprout I just add a couple of tablespoons of seeds to the jar, add the special lid, and soak overnight.  Then rinse the next morning and shake out all the water.  That is the benefit of the mesh lid, you just fill the jar, shake it around a little bit and drain.  Every time I walk by my sink I rinse and drain the seeds.  In a couple of days you have mung bean sprouts. 

[Francie]

My sprouts don't do as well in the winter. I also like to green up my sprouts in the sun after sprouting them in a cabinet.  I don't have a sunny window in my kitchen, so I usually stick them outside.  Maybe I just had a couple of bad runs, and I should try again. I've been making whole wheat tortillas and hummus, and I would love some sprouts on them!

[Pam Genant]

My son has just uncovered a love of sprouts, so I need to start making more batches, LOL.  I don't have mine in direct sun, that is just not available at my windows :-(   I just put them beside my sink, so that I remember to rinse them a couple of times a day, and they take off.    Yes they would be good on tortillas and humus!