Sprouts!

Watercress, alfalfa, and a sandwich mix
from Botanical Interests.

There is nothing like a handful of fresh alfalfa sprouts on a veggie pâté sandwich, or the crunch of mung bean sprouts in a stir-fry.

For years, however, I deprived myself of sprouts because the ones from the store tended to be slimy, or taste a little off. Or I was scared off by stories of bacteria and mold in the sprouts.

Then I saw this three-tiered seed sprouter for sale on the Mountain Rose Herbs website and thought I'd give it a try. (The fact the product is manufactured just outside Montreal probably helped my decision!)

Since then we have been enjoying fresh sprouts on our salads, in our sandwiches (marmite and radish sprouts on sourdough rye bread - a real treat!), and added as a quick crunch to dinner.

I'd experimented in the past with sprouting in jars - washing the seeds with water, letting them drain, repeating the next day, but the seeds would clump together and get moldy. Plus there was something unappetizing about a clump of sprouts in the bottom of a canning jar.

With this sprouter, my little seed garden is spread out on trays, the stems and leaves pressing upward, sometimes even lifting the lid of the sprouter if I don't eat them quickly enough. Harvesting is easy - I remove the lid and grasp a handful. They make a healthy snack eaten straight from the sprouter: crisp and fresh, and a little zingy in the case of radish, watercress or broccoli.

I try to rotate through the trays, seeding one a day so I get a staggered harvest. And while the instructions call for watering every 4 days, I've found that in cooler weather the enclosed humidity is enough after the initial watering. In hot weather the sprouts need to be stored in the fridge after 4 days.

Because you're harvesting the sprout in its first few days, you don't need to add fertilizers - all the nutrients the seed needs to grow are within it. It's actually quite a miraculous thing to watch. And it only takes up 8" of counter space.

Sprouts are also highly nutritious. They are high in enzymes which aid in the digestion and absorption of nutrients, so they help you get more benefit from whatever you're eating them with. They have chlorophyll, which helps alkalinize the body. They contain protein, vitamins and minerals galore.

Just make sure to get organic sprouting seeds - so you know you are not eating gmos. They're readily available at health food stores and some garden centers.

It's a fun adventure to embark on. And with sprouts on hand, there's always something good to eat.