Friday 4 June 2010

Lentil Sprout Salad


I used to sprout mung bean seeds in jars but they are so inexpensive and easily available in the grocery store that it was not worth the effort to do them myself. A few years ago I tried sprouting green lentils and they have become one of my favourite vegetables. I use a large jar (Costco sized jar that had artichoke hearts in it) and soak 1/3 cup of green lentils overnight in cold water. I rinse and drain them using a piece of cheesecloth over the opening of the jar. They need to be rinsed with fresh water twice a day, and in 3-4 days the sprouts are ready to eat. (You can grow them as big as you want.) They can be stir fried or eaten raw. I saw a recipe for curried lentil sprout salad on Veganlicious and modified it as follows.

2 cups lentil sprouts (from 1/3 cup seeds)
2 cups grated carrot
finely grated rind of 1 lemon
juice of one large lemon
1 tbsp olive oil
a handful of raisins
a handful of walnuts
chopped cilantro

Mix ingredients together and serve. I like it best if it sits for a few hours.