Sprouting Beans

Judy
Gold Post Medal for All Time! 677 Posts

The sprouted lentils. Everyone can do this. You only need a container with a cover. You may use many kinds of beans. I used lentils this time.

Not only are bean sprouts delicious, they are healthy. They have more protein than beef, more vitamin C than citrus fruit, and are a more complete food than any other food source.

Total Time: 3-5 days for lentils

Yield: 1/4 cup dried = 1 1/2 to 2 cups

Supplies:

Beans
Paper towels
Opaque container with a cover
Water

Steps:

After dinner, rinse and drain beans.

Soak them in 80 degree F water. Use at least 4 times as much water as beans. I used 2 cups of water for 1/4 cup beans. Let them soak at least 8 hours to as much as 16 hours. The warmer the room is, the less time they will need.

The next morning, rinse the seeds again in cool water. Pick out any rotten seeds.

Place the seeds evenly at the bottom of the container. Soak 4 paper towels in warm water. Place the dripping towels on top of the beans and cover the container.

Placing a wet paper towel over the lentils.

If you are home in the middle of the day, sprinkle the towels with some drops of water. This is not necessary.
That evening, uncover, remove the towels, add water to cover the beans about one inch, and let sit 5-15 minutes.

Drain off all the water.

Use your hand to stir the beans so they bottom ones come to the top to encourage even sprouting.

Mixing up the lentils to ensure even sprouting.

Moisten the towels, cover the beans and cover the pot.

Covering the lentils with a wet paper towel

The next morning, fill the container with water. Remove husks that have floated to the top. Drain well, moisten paper towels and set aside.

Sprouts started to form on mine.

Repeat the steps above every day until the sprouts are long enough and are to your taste. My lentils took 4 days. The optimum length for lentils is 1/2 inch to 1 inch.

When you are ready to eat the sprouts, give them a final rinse and drain. The hulls of lentils are soft and edible. You may want to remove harder hills. Store leftover sprouts, loosely wrapped in a damp paper towel and then put in a tightly sealed plastic bag, in the refrigerator.

(Optional) set the sprouts in a sunny window for a few hours to enhance their vitamin C and chlorophyll content.

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