First things first, the randomly chosen Zevia giveaway winner is…
#59 – Danielle
When we were little kids, my cousin and I used to think it was hysterical to put fake ice cubes (the ones with the spiders inside) in people’s glasses of soda! Thanks for the giveaway – I’d love to try Zevia!
Congrats Danielle! Email me your address and I’ll get the soda sent to you asap!
I have another great giveaway tomorrow too (or maybe tonight if I can get my act together), so if you didn’t hit the jackpot this time, there’s still hope.
Before I sign off, I want to share with you my latest adventure…in the world of sprouting.
Gena was the first person to introduce me to sprouting. Thanks to her approach to all things raw, the world of un-cooking has never been so enticing. And after reading Brendan Brazier’s book this summer, I have been itching to get down to business.
After getting back from Hawaii, I set right to work. Literally. I went to the store to get mason jars before I was even done unpacking.
For some reason, sprouting has always intimidated me. I’m not sure why. It just seemed overly complicated.
Turns out, it’s not. It’s actually the most simple food prep ever.
You don’t need fancy tools or hard-to-find items (cheesecloth?). You just need a jar and paper towel.
I rinsed the quinoa once with water first (and discarded the water). Then I added more water (enough to submerge all the quinoa).
You are supposed to leave it soaking for 6-8 hours, so I just left mine overnight.
The next morning I drained out the old water, rinsed the quinoa with new water, and re-drained it, leaving the partially sprouted pseudoseeds in a semi-damp state.
As the day went on, I made sure to re-rinse and drain them every few hours.
Before I knew it, there were little green sprouts popping up left and right. Easy as that!
The water does all the work…I just documented the process.
Amazing!
The next question was what to do with sprouted quinoa?
You can’t go wrong with avocado, so I centered a salad dish around that.
Avocado Quinoa Sprout Salad
- 1/2 avocado
- 1/2 cup chickpeas
- 1 medium carrot, chopped
- 2/3 cup quinoa, sprouted (yield will vary)
- 1 tsp lime juice
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- salt & pepper to taste
Delicious.
Sprouting has always intimidated me as well, but it does look easy! Just a little fiddly, but there is nothing wrong with that. I love also what you did with it! That is a beautiful salad!
Happy sprouting 🙂
That looks so good! And so healthy! I think I’m gonna try this with garbanzo beans and make sprouted hummus!
I’ve never thought to sprout quinoa! I’ve done alfalfa sprouts, though, and it sure is easy. As a gardener, it’s a tiny bit difficult to get out of ‘baby plant! must protect!’ mode and into ‘tasty for me to eat’ mode. I manage, somehow.
OOO!!! That looks so cute! (and good.)
Sprouting used to totally intimidate me too, but it is really easy, isn’t it?! The hardest part for me is remembering to DO it, lol! You could sprout the chickpeas too and have a sprouty salad 🙂
Courtney
I had no idea you could sprout quinoa. I’m going to try it soon!
thanks for the demo! looks pretty easy!
I’ve never sprouted any grains, but always wanted to! This recipe might push me to actually do it, it looks deeeelish.
This looks sssoooo yummy. I was wondering tho I have tried a granola bar made with sprouted grains and the flavor was so odd…like beer but not in a good way! Is that the flavor I should expect? Just curious
Welcome to official hippie-dom – sprouting is a favorite pastime in crunchy domiciles.
I love sprouting mung beans, clover seeds, alfalfa, sunflower seeds…anything that can be sprouted, shall be sprouted in my household. It ends up saving us a ton of money – so much cheaper than the store-bought versions!
I’ve never sprouted quinoa before. How do you like it compared to cooked quinoa?
I think they are so different it’s hard to compare. I’d have to say that cooked quinoa is my preference as it’s more hearty and a good solid base for a dish. Sprouted quinoa on the other hand is more like alfalfa sprouts so it’s not as much of a central ingredient. Both are good, but they serve different functions in my eyes, does that make sense?
Actually, you are kinda right, it does have that fermented flavor…but it’s subtle, not too strong. Make sure you rinse often as that may be the issue.
Oh, YAY!
Elise, I’m so psyched you gave it a try! I agree 100% that sprouting is easier than cooking grains, even if my personal preference is for warm, cooked ones. Sprouting really helps me when I’m super busy, and I am delighted that you tried it! I can’t wait to eat this salad!
Umm that looks AMAZING; I didn’t even know one could sprout quinoa.
I find your salads so inspiring!! Which is good because I just started packing lunches for work again and I feel big, delicious salads are the way to go.
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