alfalfa sprouts, question
Posted by Sariea on Apr 14, 2007 · Member since Feb 2007 · 845 posts
my mom got pork fried rice tonight ::) i had a couple spoon fulls, avoiding the pork of course, and it got me thinking--my favorite parts of the fried rice are the onions and the sprouts
i already make a veggie fried rice that i got off of eatingwell.com but i am interested in alfalfa sprouts now. the only place i've ever seen them in the grocery store is by the soy sauce.. in cans
has anyone ever sprouted their own, and what else would you use the sprouts in besides fried rice? i kinda would like to try and grow my own
thanks in advance :)
You can buy them here fresh in the produce section of most grocery stores. I've had them in sandwiches and tacos in place of lettuce. They're very nice in green salads. I've sprouted them in the past. I saved the following info in a Word document and I don't remember where I found it at originally. This is basically all you need to know about sprouting. You can probably find a source on-line to order the seeds, etc. from.
FRESH SPROUTS YOU GROW AT HOME
Sprouting is a great way to get fresh food cheaply.
1. Take a canning jar and fill with 1/3 cup seeds or dried beans.
2. Cover the jar with a square of cheesecloth or women's nylon stockings (clean of course). Screw the ring lid on over it.
3. Fill with warm water and soak the seeds for 6 hours or overnight.
4. After 6 hours, drain and rinse with fresh water.
5. Pour out water and attempt to roll the jar so seeds are sticking to the side of the jar in a single layer.
6. Set the jar on its side in a dark place.
7. If possible, rinse the seeds two to three times a day with water and drain.
You never have to remove the lid for this. Do this for one to four days.
8. When sprouts are fully grown, refrigerate them.
Types of Seeds/Beans that make great sprouts:
Alfalfa Takes 3-4 days. Use 1-1/2 Tablespoon Raw in salads, sandwiches, or chopped in Baked goods Vitamin C, carotene, chlorophyll, vitamin.K and many other nutrients
Almonds 1-2 days. Use 1 cup Raw or roasted snacks, salads, hors d'oeuvres Lower blood cholesterol level, reduce heart disease, rich in vitamin E and useful source of calcium
Adzuki beans (or azuki beans) 2-3 days. Use 1 cup and cook until tender and use in salad or in chili. Provides calcium to phosphorous ratio (4:1) for helping preventing osteoporosis.
Black beans (Black turtle bean) Take 1-3 days. Use 1 cup. Cook and serve on tortillas or other flat breads. Use in bean soup. Beneficial to kidneys and reproductive function and diuretic effect. Black beans are effective for hoarseness, laryngitis, kidney stones, bed wetting, urinary difficulty, and hot flashes of menopause.
Garbanzo beans (chick peas) 1-2 days. Use 1 cup and cook until tender and use to make hummus or toss in salad or soup. Beneficial to pancreas, stomach, and heart. Contains more iron than other legumes and is also a good source of unsaturated fats.
Lentils 1-3 days. For lentil soup and cooked for lentil salad Diuretic effect, beneficial to the heart and circulation, stimulates the adrenal system, and increases vitality of the kidney.
Mung beans (The common Chinese sprouts) Takes 2-3 days to sprout. Can be used in recipes, salads, in a miso soup and as stir-fried vegetables. Detoxifies the body, beneficial to the liver and gall bladder and diuretic effect.
Soybeans 2-4days for sprouting. Add to salads, mash for Sandwich spread Helps lower risk of heart disease, eases constipation and improves intestinal health, Steadies blood sugar level, rich in iron, Calcium and potassium, ease menopausal Symptoms, and may reduce the risk of breast Cancer breast Cancer
Sunflower seed 1-2 days. Use raw for snacks, tabbouleh fruit salads Provides good levels vitamin E and B-vitamin and Iron. Contains linoleic acid that lower blood Cholesterol levels and prevention of heart Diseases
Nutrients: Legumes are not only high in protein, but also in fat and carbohydrate. They are rich sources of potassium, calcium, iron and several B-vitamins
What you had in the rice was most likely mung bean sprouts, not alfafa... they are very different.
I love mung bean sprouts. I use them in soups, stir fries... and sometime will just simmer them briefly in a small amount of broth.
I have never tried to grow any of my own, though.
oh alright :) i assumed they were alfalfa sprouts cuz it was the only kind of sprout that came up when i googled last night
Thanks for all the info TinTexas! i'm definately going to try this :)
sprouts always go in my sandwiches/wraps
yeah, i decided if my mung beans sprout i'm going to look for sandwich recipes and salad recipes. i started it last night so hopefully it'll work. and i also told my BF that if it works, i'll do it again this summer when we'll be spending most of the summer living together, and make a big batch of veggie fried rice for us :) i'm excited.. but then again, i'm a nerd ;D
not as big a nerd as my mom though. i brought home a whole pineapple last night (usually i get my pineapple from a can) and she had to run to her laptop as soon as she saw it to see how you plant pineapple tops. she plants everything
You can look at pictures here: http://www.foodsubs.com/Sprouts.html to figure out which sprouts were in your dish. My guess would also be mung bean sprouts. A lot of asian markets sell them fresh if you're not up for canned or home-made.
it's gotten me started now. i dont think i soaked them long enough or something (6 hours last night before draining the frst time) so i soaked them again today fr about 2 hours. i got kinda discouraged because i woke up this morning to go to work and went to rinse/drain them and none of them were stuck to the jar, they were all on the bottom. i don't know why, they won't seem to stick to the jar. they will, but they fall very easily. is that normal?
i was reading something about sprouting on wiki and it had a list of stuff you could sprout. i would be interested in sprouting quinoa
Often there are instructions on the sprout package. If you buy an official sprouting jar, there are sometimes instructions with the jar or on the label.
I found a site that has good instructions with bean type recommendations and how to know when they're ready: http://www.thefarm.org/charities/i4at/lib2/sprouts.htm
This is a great website w/ lots of good info, products, and books.
http://www.sproutman.com/
well, i didn't get a sprout package :-\ i got the beans in the bulk section of a natural foods store. they're starting to sprout, slowly, but it just bugs me that they're not sticking to the jar. oh well, i'll check out those sites
well, i didn't get a sprout package :-\ i got the beans in the bulk section of a natural foods store. they're starting to sprout, slowly, but it just bugs me that they're not sticking to the jar. oh well, i'll check out those sites
Mine don't stick to the jar, either. I wouldn't worry about it too much. My sprouts seem to do fine in one thick layer. I use a mason jar that came filled with spaghetti sauce originally. It's square sided. A round sided jar might have more stick-to-ness. I use what I have. I cover it with cheesecloth and use a Mason lid ring to close it up. Easy, peasy! 8)
I've wanted to start sprouting, but I'm worried I will do it wrong or something...I guess I should just try. :D
I use sprouts in sandwiches, and my favorite is tofu salad with sprouts...*drools*
okay i know this is a really dumb question, but since this is the first time i've grown my own sprouts, and i've only ever had them in pre-made fried rice...
when you eat them, do you take off the bean/seed part and just eat the sprout part? or do you eat the whole thing?
i tried a couple earlier and i think i ate the whole thing but i'm too tired to remember. they tasted kinda like fresh string beans. crunchy with that sharp taste.
i ask now because i'm planning on making my veggie fried rice in the next couple days
thanks :)
Eat the whole thing. Don't worry about whether they stick to the jar or not. They'll grow fine even in one big clump. They are way-healthy, and very low maintenance and low cost to grow. I usually use seeds or legumes sold for food rather than for growing - either one works just as well, but the food ones are often cheaper.
Also, for anyone else starting sprouting, be sure to rinse the seeds very thoroughly before starting, and rinse them twice a day. A few years back there was a nationwide foodpoisoning incident (this is gross) because some seeds got infested with rodents, who left droppings in the seeds. The droppings had germs, and seeds grow at a perfect temp and conditions to grow more germs. For a while, the gov't was recommending no raw sprouts at all - and that's why it is now kind of difficult to find sprouts at the grocery. I eat them and grow my own - but I am careful to rinse the seeds very carefully before I start.
I have never liked homegrown mung bean sprouts because picking off the seed hulls is a pain and they are nasty when cooked, to me at least.
Alfalfa sprouts present another problem...possible E.coli and other bacteria. It seems to be present in the seeds, so grows with the sprout. They also contain a toxin which is not harmful in small amounts, i.e. a couple of handfuls a day will not hurt you at all. I have lupus and it is strongly recommends that lupus sufferers never ever eat fresh sprouts, especially alfalfa. I know that you can get food grade hydrogen peroxide to rinse sprouts with when they have just sprouted out and that this kills any E.coli that might be present, but I have no experience with this.
They are easy to grow at home, however and the simplest is using quart canning jars with the plastic lids from sproutman. I know people who have grown them on wet paper towels too. Just rinse them frequently and drain them properly because alfalfa "goes off" rather quickly.