Last week, I successfully sprouted some mixed sprouts for the first time. On my initial try, after a few days, I ended up with a moldy-smelling mess instead of fresh sprouts because I didn’t realize that—unlike when soaking, say, quinoa or beans—you don’t leave the seeds submerged in water. If you’re new to sprouting, or just need a refresher, here’s my guide to sprouting in 5 quick steps:
1. Buy sprout seeds. I always thought I didn’t like sprouts because I’d only tried the conventional, alfalfa variety, but I’ve since learned that there are a remarkable variety of different kinds (my favorite so far have been spicy daikon sprouts) .
2. Pour seeds into a cheese cloth bag (some experienced sprouters recommend a hemp bag). This makes it easier to drain water from your seeds.
3. Rinse seeds in bag thoroughly. Put sprouts in glass jar or other container, and fill with water so bag of sprouts is submerged for now. Let sit overnight, or for an equivalent amount of hours, in a dark place, like a kitchen cabinet.
4. Drain. In the morning, remove bag of seeds from jar, rinse, then empty excess water from the jar and place seeds back in.
5. Continue rinsing twice a day (removing excess water from jar before placing bag back in each time) until your seeds have sprouted (2-4 days).
Finished! Eat on sandwiches or salads, or experiment—the people I bought my seeds from were serving a mix of different kinds of sprouts lightly covered in Thai peanut sauce. See some sprout recipes for every meal here.
