Originally published June 22 2005
Sprouts can be tasty, nutritious addition to variety of dishes
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
The Scotman's Claire Sawyers writes about buying, growing and enjoying different types of sprouts, like alfalfa, mung bean and radish.
MENTION the word bean sprouts and the image that springs to mind for most of us is one of limp white slithers lurking in vegetable stir-fries, or residing wanly in plastic bags in the supermarket chill counter.
The mung bean sprout is a staple of oriental cuisine which has worked its way on to Western shopping lists, but as any self-respecting wholefood lover knows, these are not the only legumes which can be sprouted.
In fact, have a root round the fridge at your nearest deli or organic food store and you will discover endless varieties of sprouts - from aduki beans, chickpeas, soy beans and alfalfa, to those created from radish, leeks, onions and broccoli.
Explore a little further and you are likely to find packets of seeds such as those by Biosnacky, sold in single variety, or interesting sounding combinations such as detox mix, gourmet mix and mild aromatic mix.
Such seeds can be sprouted at home, with the help of a specially designed sprout propogator, or simply an empty jam jar and a piece of muslin cloth.
Try layering a tablespoon full of alfalfa sprouts between hummus and grated carrots in a sandwich for its distinctive musty crunch, or chucking a handful of chickpea sprouts into a vegetable rice salad to add a nutty flavour.
Or why not scatter some hot and spicy radish sprouts over a green leaf salad in place of ground pepper, or sunflower sprouts for a sprinkling of mild sweetness?
In the bean family, the most common varieties for sprouting are mung beans (of Chinese chow mein fame) green peas (sweet and fresh tasting) and aduki beans (a small reddish brown oblong bean with a nutty flavour).
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