how to sprout lentils & a spring pasta salad

even if you always kill your plants, I promise you can still make sprouts

You can sprout basically any legume, but sprouted mung beans (whole green moong dal) is a great one to start with. You don’t need to buy any sort of jar or system for this, you just need a large bowl, a sieve, and either a cheesecloth (paper towel or a thin kitchen cloth will do as well). It’s super versatile - I’ve shown this sauteed served with eggs before, in this pasta salad, and you can even make a large batch and freeze them!

Sprouted Lentils

Ingredients:

• 1 cup whole green mung beans (will yield about 3-4 cups of sprouts)

Instructions:

1. Wash the lentils thoroughly and soak in a large bowl of water any amount of your legumes that you want to sprout (as mentioned green mung beans are a great one to start with) the night before or at least 8 hours. They will swell and increase in size while soaking.

   1. Tip: choose a large bowl where the sieve has some room and isn’t touching the bottom of the bowl.

2. After soaking, discard the water, rinse again, and then transfer them from the bowl into the sieve. Place the sieve on top of the bowl (no water inside the bowl now) and cover with a damp cloth. Keep in warm spot but away from direct sunlight.

3. Twice a day, morning and night, empty any water that dripped into the bowl, bring the sieve with lentils under running water to rinse them for a few seconds, back into the bowl, and get your cloth damp again before covering them.

4. You’ll see tiny white tails form around day 2. By day 4 you’ll have pretty incredible long sprouts and you can “harvest” them — cook them, store in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 5 days, or freeze them for up to 3 months!

[RECIPE] Herby Sprouted Lentils Pasta Salad

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

• 1 cup orecchiette or pasta of your choosing

• 1 cup sprouts

• 1/2 cup snap peas, fibrous strings pulled off and then thinly sliced on a bias

• 1 cup asparagus, tough woody ends snapped off and then cut into thirds

• 1/4 cup roasted red peppers, roughly chopped

• 1 red chili pepper, thinly sliced

• 1/3 fresh mozzarella ball

• Herby Dressing:

  • 1 garlic clove

  • 1 cup packed basil

  • 1/2 cup packed parsley

  • 8-10 pieces of sundried tomatoes and a tablespoon of their oil

  • Juice of 1/2 a lemon, or to taste

  • Salt and pepper to taste

  • 1-2 tbsp EVOO for emulsion - see instructions

Instructions:

1. Make your dressing by combining everything except the EVOO in a small food processor. While grinding, pour in your EVOO to emulsify further (if you have a cuisinart mini food processor, the lid on top has holes so it steadily streams down your liquid). Taste and adjust for salt or lemon. Set aside.

2. Blanch the asparagus and sprouts next - blanched or gently cooked sprouts are even easier on the stomach than raw. Get a small pot of boiling water going, salt heavily, and prepare an ice bath in a large bowl.

3. First blanch the asparagus, dunk everything except the cut tips as they cook faster into the boiling water. Cook for 3 minutes and then add the tips and cook for another minute. Using a large slotted spoon or spider, immediately plunge them to the ice bath and leave them for a couple minutes before transferring them into your serving bowl.

4. To blanch the sprouts, make sure the water is boiling again, dunk and cook for 1 minute, and then immediately plunge into the ice bath, leaving them for a couple minutes before transferring into your serving bowl.

5. Bring the same pot of water to a boil again, and this time cook your pasta as instructed on the box. Drain and add to your bowl.

6. Add the rest of the ingredients: sliced snap peas, roasted red peppers, and red chili pepper. Give the dressing a quick shake or blitz to emulsify again, and mix into the pasta salad.

7. Tear some fresh mozzarella to add on top, drizzle some EVOO, and a pinch of flaky salt.