I sprouted some lentils and let them grow into greens instead of eating them as soon as they had tails this time and HOLY CRAP have I been missing out. The fresh greens have a taste that’s very similar to fresh snow peas and I am IN LOVE. They worked out great in this simple stir fry of onions, garlic, lentils, sesame seeds, and spices. Full size pics below.
Sprouts that I totally haven’t been snacking on every time I mist them…
Tasty lunch with the same sprouts.
You will be pleasantly surprised to know that many things from the grocery store are sproutable! I haven’t met a dried (uncooked) seed that wasn’t able to sprout (on average, there will always be duds).
You know your water better than I do, but I think when sprouting the water is doing a lot less than when growing a photosynthesizing plan (with true leaves).
Yeah I probably tricked myself into thinking most of the stuff at the store has been modified to prevent sprouting, etc. I know there are some things locally that are like this so my assumption was it was probably being done at all levels. Clearly I was wrong.
Right! A big part of this experiment for me was discovering how long the lentils can go without feeding or specialized care. I will not use my tap water for sprouting seeds, full stop. It’s too unpredictable to be trusted on delicate and irreplaceable plants so I always start them with distilled water. After they are established they can handle the fluctuating parameters a bit better. Now that I know the lentil greens aren’t going to go off just because the water isn’t perfect I’m very happy!