The Alphabet Art Challenge - Day nineteen- 'S' for Sprouts

They’re tasty, they’re inexpensive, they’re healthy, hooked yet? No? They’re raw, they’re the ultimate in locally-grown food and, they’ve been shown in numerous studies to be anticarcinogenic.**

We’re talking sprouts here people…grown in your kitchen, cheap and nutritious.

Why sprout? Well, in addition to breaking down anti-nutrients, enzyme inhibitors and lectins, sprouting dramatically increases the fibre, essential fatty acid and vitamin content in seeds and legumes, as well as the quality of protein. In other words, if you sprout your seeds and legumes you multiply considerably their nutritional punch.

We all know how nutritious cruciferous vegetables are and that they’re known to inhibit the growth of cancers, don't we? Well here’s a way to get the gain without the pain. Small quantities of crucifer sprouts may protect against the risk of cancer as effectively as much larger quantities of mature vegetables of the same variety.*

Chick peas Red Radish and White Radish

I buy my seeds from Fruit Hill Farm, great value at between 2.50 euro for 250g of Mung Beans and 9.50 for 250g of something a bit more exotic like Red Rambo Radish.

My seed pantry

That’s a hell of a lot of sprouts if u think that 2 tbs of seeds sprouted will last 2 people several days. You can get a sprouter for under a tenner, though my posh terracotta one cost 25 euro. So please people, don't tell me health foods are too expensive.

Sprouting is as easy as 1,2,3. You simply steep the seeds overnight, rinse, place in sprouter, rinse twice a day draining well and in 3-5 days you’ll be feasting on fresh, tasty sprouts. Add them to your brekkie, put them in your sambo or simply eat them by the handful.

Seeds day one

Fenugreek sprouts, slightly curry like in taste

You may read stuff on line about dangers of Salmonella, Listeria, and E. coli. I’ve never come across anything like this and I think if you keep your hands and equipment clean, you won’t have any problems.

Do yourself a favour. Get a sprouter for Christmas!

*Broccoli sprouts: An exceptionally rich source of inducers of enzymes that protect against chemical carcinogens. PNAS Sept 1997

**Targeting cancer stem cells with sulforaphane, a dietary component from broccoli and broccoli sprouts. Future Oncol. 2013 Aug;

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This post is part of a challenge proposed by @tonyr to post a work of art each day for 26 days, each corresponding to a letter of the alphabet.

All images are my own