Thursday, November 13, 2014

Sprouts!

I've long been a fan of sprouting. In fact, I haven't purchased sprouts in years. Our Kroger stores don't carry them because of some sort of food safety issue (whatevs). And why drive out to Whole Foods when I can grow my own sprouts for pennies?

I've always used the old jar method. Put some legumes or seeds in a mason jar and soak with water overnight. Drain. Cover the jar with a wash rag or cheesecloth and rinse the seeds twice daily until sprouts are fully grown. Simple. But I always lost so many sprouts in the rinsing process. Either they'd slip through my colander or they'd get stuck to the sides of the colander.

But my friends Sheridan and Drew got me the coolest new kitchen toy for my birthday. Meet the Victorio 4-Tray Seed Sprouter.



You soak your seeds overnight and then spread one tablespoon of seeds in each of the four trays. Here are some alfalfa seeds right after soaking and draining.


Then each morning and each night, you pour two cups of water into the top tray. Each tray has tiny holes, so the water slowly drains from one tray to the next, rinsing the sprouts as it goes. It solves that whole losing-sprouts-down-the-sink-drain problem. The water is collected in the base tray, and you just dump it after it's full.


Within a few days, each tray produces fluffy sprouts! Look how cute?


I love this thing, and I think I'll keep something sprouting all the time now. I love using sprouts in salads, soups, stir-fries, and sandwiches. Yum! Next up — mung bean (my fave)!

6 comments:

KathyD said...

If you know how to use broccoli sprouts, I would love to see that. When I sprout them, it seems to be mostly seeds and I can't separate them from the actual sprout.

Sarah said...

have had a sprouter on my wishlist for years, need to buy my own! sure i can use a mason jar and cheese cloth, but such a pain.

Sheridan said...

Yay! So glad you like it and it's working well! I'll be anxious to hear about the mung bean sprouts - those are my fave too!

RachelR said...

Don't know how much the tray was but this is another cheap and easy alternative to cheese cloth! I've had mine for over a year, use it all the time, never lose any sprouts! http://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B001UEPGFY/ref=smi_www_rco2_go_smi?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true

Pam @ herbieontherun.com said...

Ooooh sweet! I've never tried to sprout because it sounded like a total pain in the ass, but this makes it look so easy! I neeeeeeeeeeed one!

Jenni (aka Vegyogini) said...

This is SO cool! Almost makes me want to start sprouting.