Eat Well-Be Well: Sprouts!

My favorite: I’m a huge fan of finding ways to do things faster and easier and yet having a similar or better outcome. I know many of you are saying, “Please, sprouts Tony? You can’t be serious!” My favorites are mung beans and adzuki beans because they don’t require direct light to grow, meaning less babysitting on my part. All they need is a warm, moist area to go to work. No direct sunlight is required as this may cause the bean to overheat or dry out.

Uses: Omelets, breads, salads, pasta’s, soups i.e lentil soup, side dishes, and more. I would not put them on ice cream but go ahead and let me know how that tastes. You could also juice them.

How easy is it: First of all, they take very little effort, time and space. All you need is a few things. You might know some sprouty sprouters that have all the essential tools to sprout their beans, like a sprouting vessel, wire mesh, mason jar or special lighting and earth (aka soil) in which to plant them. I’m going to tell you to throw all that equipment away, you don’t need any of them.

What you need: All you need is any bowl. This could be a plastic bowl, ceramic bowl, glass bowl, salad bowl, cereal bowl, fruit bowl or your favorite Superbowl (given it’s football season). In that bowl, place ¼ C. of mung beans (green) and adzuki (red) and add 2 C. of filtered water. It’s imperative to use filtered water as the beans will soak up most of the water and you will eventually consume it. Soak the beans for 24 hours- if you go over 24 hours, that’s ok, but nothing more than 30 hours. Like any living thing, too much water can drown or cause rotting quickly. Once left alone for that period of time, remove from water and strain, never returning it to water again. Once soaked and drained, they will be soft enough to eat.

Although you can begin to eat them already, sprouts love to be drained and rinsed. So, I would suggest you keep them in a sieve over a bowl or a colander and allow them to be rinsed and drained during the day. If you’re not home during the day, just rinse them in the morning, rinse them when you return and then again just before you go to bed. Once they start to grow tails (which is about 3 days) they are at the perfect stage to be eaten. At this time they have grown up to 2 or 3 inches in length. A sprout is produced when a seed starts growing into a vegetable. Sprouts are fresh when the seed is soft and moist and the sprout itself is white and crisp.

What they taste like: They have a nutty taste and crispy texture with a burst of water that is very apparent.

Uses: You can add sprouts to omelets, breads, salads, pastas, soups (i.e lentil soup), side dishes, and more; they taste great with everything! If you like, heck, throw them on top of some ice cream and let me know how that tastes. Another option is to juice them.

Health and nutritional value: Where do I begin? First off – when you’re talking about sprouts alkalinity is mentioned in the same sentence. They contain saponin, which helps immune systems. As you know, we only have one immune system and it needs TLC. Sprouts can increase the activity of your T-cells, your fighting cells. Sprouts are considered a super food and are phytochemicals (plant compounds) that can protect us against most diseases. Since all diseases live in an acidic environment, sprouts are the heavy weights in the alkalinity state. Sprouts can also increase bone formation and density and prevent bone breakdown. Sprouts contain an abundance of highly active antioxidants that prevent DNA destruction and protect us from the ongoing effects of aging. We all would like to look and stay young, right?

Most of you have heard of bioavailable or bioavailability. Well, sprouts have an arsenal of digestible energy, vitamins such as A, B, C, E, amino acids and minerals such as potassium, magnesium, iron and calcium. Not to mention enzymes (which, after reading my articles, you should know all enzymes are proteins) which are extremely high in protein and are imperative for health and growth. Some sprouts like alfalfa contain canavanine that can have an effect on different types of cancer like pancreatic, colon and MDS i.e. pre-leukemia.

Shelf life: This is simple folks, you don’t need to be a chemist or a chef or even a professional taste tester. If they smell funny, re-plant them in your soil or compost them. Just like anything else, you’ll know when you’ve have a bad piece of fish, or expired milk. Also, look at them to see if they’re still healthy.

Other beans, seeds or peas you can sprout: Quinoa is very small, so soak them for just 20 minutes and you’ll see tails within a day. Others include: sunflower seeds, lentils beans, hemp seeds, black- eyed & green peas, soy, pinto, navy and lima beans. Wheat berry seeds are unreal! Have fun with this! They will make you feel great, look great, and provide energy during your stressful days. With RT-128 getting under your skin, you’ll be the one having a sprouty day!

Sprouted Mung and Adzuki Bean Salad

1) 1 TBSP Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2) 1 tsp Villa Mandori Balsamic Vinegar
3) 1 Clove of Garlic (minced)
4) ½ tsp Ginger (minced)
5) ½ Avocado (sliced)
6) Handful of Sprouts
7) 10 Cherry Tomatoes (cut in half)
8) 2 TBSP Cilantro (minced)
9) ½ Lemon (juice and zest)
10) 6 oz. Bag of Mixed Greens

To make this sweet ~ Add 1 tsp of honey with ingredients 1-4.

Tony Polito is a chef and food consultant in Boston and New York. Tony's specialty is helping people get fit, starting in the kitchen. He not only teaches people what to eat, but also how to eat. He is currently working on his first cookbook, “Fresh,” which is scheduled to come out this Fall. Visit his web site at cookingwithtony.com.