Sprouting Better Health

Sprouting Better Health

The first sprout I ever laid eyes on was in my kindergarten classroom. We had taken our empty milk containers from snack time, filled them with potting soil and stuck one dried bean down into the dirt. Our “science experiment” sat on the sunny window sill all week, while our teacher kept them watered. When we returned to school the next Monday, low and behold, a bean sprout had shot up!

That experiment was revisited many times throughout my school years, each time teaching a deeper truth about those tiny bean plants. Yet, no one ever told us how powerfully nutritious those pale shoots were. The fact is, sprouts of any variety—bean, alfalfa, broccoli—contain 100 times more phytonutrients than vegetables!

Basically, the first showing of a growing plant consists of a somewhat albino stalk upon which is perched two “seed leaves”. These leaves have none of the characteristics of the true leaves of the plant they will become.  Actually, all seed leaves look pretty much the same—like a pair of Mickey Mouse ears. Sprouts look very unappetizing, I’ll admit that. And when eaten alone they really lack in the flavor department. But if you are looking for a living, breathing dynamo of a food to eat—you’ve struck nutritional gold with sprouts. Try adding alfalfa or broccoli sprouts to a salad, or use them in a sandwich instead of lettuce for a nice crunch. Here’s my family’s favorite sprout-based dish:

Spicy Thai Noodles (Found in the Asian food section of your supermarket)

• Mix up prepared Thai sauce that comes packaged with the noodles and set aside (the sugar will fall to the bottom so you can avoid adding it into the dish with the rest of the flavored sauce)
• Stir fry assorted veggies—carrots, snow pea pods, etc,  in a small bit of heart healthy oil
• Add thinly sliced cooked chicken, pork, shrimp, or a sliced “scrambled egg crepe” for protein
• Cook packaged Thai rice noodles and mix with an equal quantity of mung bean sprouts and toss into the pan/wok with the meat and veggies
• Pour Thai sauce over the mixture (minus the sugary remains) and heat until the  liquid is absorbed
• Enjoy your new dish and your sprouting health!